Tempt Me
by HeavensPuppet
Summary: The Naruto gang are in High School and their class has been chosen to put on the annual play. This year it's about the Seven Deadly Sins and their victims. Emotions and parts become tangled with real life. SasuNaru NejiGaara ShikaIno More couples inside
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue!

Warnings: Slash/Yaoi (boyxboy) There are non-yaoi pairings as well though, so if one of your favourite couples is here you could just skip those parts if you don't like them. Please don't bother flaming though after you've been warned.

Couples:

SasukeNaruto  
NejiGaara  
ShikamaruIno  
KankuroShino  
KibaHinata

Please review and let me know what you think! It's the first time I'm trying a multi-chapter Naruto fic! Hope you enjoy!!!

**Tempt Me**

"Well class, it is my privilege to announce the parts a lucky few of you will be acting in our class play this year."  
The class groaned in anticipation. It was the same thing every year. Their sensei always volunteered their class to put on a play for the school's end of year festival. They admitted though, somewhat begrudgingly, that this years play didn't sound as bad as the others had. This year they were putting on a play about the seven deadly Sins trying to seduce people into committing a particular sin. When the people start to give in, Hope appears and drives the Sins back. The class had all voted who should play what yesterday, and now Kakashi-sensei was going to tell them who got the parts.

"I'm going to write the parts up on the board and I want no complaints. The decision is final!"

With that Kakashi turned and began writing names on the board. The class held their breath, each hoping their name wouldn't appear on the black surface. Kakashi stepped to one side and grinned at them, (at least they assumed he did as they couldn't see the bottom half of his face under his scarf).

Greed----Shino  
Lust------Sasuke  
Gluttony--Choji  
Sloth------Shikamaru  
Wrath-----Gaara  
Pride------Lee  
Envy------Hinata

Hope-----Sakura

On seeing this, there were cries of happiness and wails of despair echoing around the classroom. Kakashi took out a copy of Icha Icha Paradise and proceeded to ignore the pleas for reconsideration. When they had quietened down Kakashi informed them that he was now going to write up who would play the people seduced by the Sins.

Greed----Temari  
Lust------Naruto  
Gluttony--Ino  
Wrath-----Neji  
Pride------Kankuro  
Envy------Kiba

"Hey, sensei. Why isn't there anyone being seduced by Sloth?"

"What's wrong Shikamaru? Disappointed you don't get to seduce anyone?"  
When Kakashi received no answer, he explained.

"Sloth is too lazy to try and seduce anyone, that's why you don't have a huge part in the play!"

Shikamaru shrugged, unbothered by this. Secretly he was pleased he didn't have to do much this year. He and Sakura were the only ones pleased with their parts. Sakura was delighted she got to play the Good Guy this year. In last year's production she'd had to play an ugly step-sister. She did want to know something though.

"Sensei, when you say the Sins seduce people, what do you mean exactly?"  
The rest of the play's performers waited with bated breath.

"I'm glad you asked Sakura, I was just coming to that. Greed will make someone want everything they see, making them steal and cheat to get it. This means Shino will be trying to convince Temari to rob from people, or spend all her money on things she doesn't need."

Temari and Shino nodded. That didn't sound too bad.

"Lust will try to seduce an innocent. It will make the person become consumed by passion and lust until he/she gives themselves over to It. This means that Sasuke will be trying to seduce Naruto into giving himself up to him."  
Sasuke and Naruto looked horrified. That sounded terrible, a fate worse than death!

"Gluttony fills a person with an incredible hunger. It makes them want to eat and drink constantly, even until they die. Choji will be trying to convince Ino to eat and drink everything she can lay her hands on."  
Ino grimaced. There went her diet.

"Sloth will lay around sleeping all the time, too lazy to bother with anything."  
They all turned to look at Shikamaru sleeping on his desk. Kakashi rolled his eyes. Ah, how life could imitate art.

"Wrath consumes a person with rage and hatred, bringing out the worst in a person. Wrath can overcome a person with an urge to hurt and kill. In this case Gaara will be attempting to force Neji to hurt people and maybe even kill them."  
Neji glared and Gaara ignored. His eyes landing on Gaara, Kakashi couldn't help but mentally reiterate his previous statement about life and art.

"Pride is the most popular Sin. It's very easy to be consumed by it without even realising it. It makes a person proud of themselves and what they do, making them sneer and look down on those that they feel are inferior to them. Lee will be trying to make Kankuro look down on others and care only for himself."  
Lee nodded over-enthusiastically while Kankuro tried to come up with a reason why he shouldn't kill him.

"The last Sin, Envy, is very destructive. It can turn people against family and friends as unfounded jealousy eats away at them. They care little for what they have and covet the belongings of others. Hinata will be trying to convince Kiba to want what others have, and to make him push away those closest to him."  
As Kakashi looked at Hinata's increasing blush he thought that sometimes life and art blended together perfectly, and sometimes they were _waaaay _off.

"Oh, and not forgetting Hope. Hope is the force of good that saves the victims of Sin. You could say it's the light that drives back the dark. Sakura's part will be to come in when each victim has reached the peak of their sin and drive it out again."

Everyone complained that Sakura got the best part and Shikamaru got the easiest one. Kakashi told them it was their own fault, they were the ones who'd voted for the parts. He informed them that they were all to meet in the Drama Hall after classes finished so they could be given their scripts. The rest of the class were going to be helping with the sets and props, so they had to be there too. A bell rang and they all made their way to the next subject.

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At lunch Naruto, Kiba, Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke sat together complaining about their parts in this years class production. Sakura was attempting to comfort Naruto, saying she was sure there wouldn't be anything really bad he'd have to do. They had to put on the play for their parents after all!

"And you think I actually _want _to have to seduce you dobe? Let's just hope I'm a really good actor."

Naruto growled and would have lunged for him if Sakura hadn't caught hold of the back of his shirt. Sasuke smirked as he went back to eating his lunch. Kiba was lying on his back, with his hands behind his head, laughing in Hinata's general direction.

"Guess I should wish you good luck or something, Hinata. Because you have no chance of tempting me with envy, I have everything I want, and nobody has anything else of any interest to me."

Hinata just sat on the ground, twiddling her thumbs, saying she'd try her best not to let Kakashi-sensei down. Sakura threw him a look.

"Oh, are you sure there's nothing you want? Something you can't have? Nothing at all?"

Kiba looked at her suspiciously, asking her what she was talking about.

"Nothing really. I just assumed everyone wanted something they couldn't have. So you're positive there's nothing you want?"

"Yeah, I'm sure!"

"There's nothing any of us have that you want? None of us?"

Kiba shook his head, wondering what she was angling at.

"Really, none of us? Not even Naruto?"

Now he shot her a wary look.

"Maybe there's something Naruto doesn't realise he has that you want?"

Kiba was beginning to enter a state somewhere around the area of panic.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"No idea? Okay then, I'll clear things up for you. It's smaller than average, has short hair, blushes easily, is very shy----"

Kiba hissed at her.

"Shut up!"

"Oh come on! Naruto doesn't even know she has a crush on him! You're seriously going to look me in the eye and tell me you don't want her?"

Kiba avoided making eye contact with her and her face lit up with a triumphant expression. Kiba turned to join in the conversation the other three were having, effectively putting an end to Sakura's questions.

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After school had ended for the day, the class arrived in the Drama Hall and were split into two groups. A) The group who were acting and B) the Creative/Backstage group. Group A were with Kakashi and group B were with the other drama teacher, Gai-sensei (may a higher power have mercy on their souls). When group B had headed backstage drowning in inspirational phrases about youth, the remaining students received their scripts. They were put into pairs and told to spread out around the hall, two on the stage and the other four in various other places. Shikamaru and Sakura were told to look over their scripts by themselves and, after a short grumble from Shikamaru about 'how troublesome' it all was, they went their separate ways.  
Naruto and Sasuke, and Lee and Kankuro were on opposite sides of the stage reading through their scripts. Kakashi figured he needed them where he could see them. He started going around to each of the groups, seeing what they could do and what they needed to work on. The latter was a much longer list. Shino and Temari, and Choji and Ino were the only ones not having a problem with the material. Kakashi took in the 'acting' around him; from the murderous look in Kankuro's eyes as Lee ran around the stage shouting about pride and youthfulness (which was _not _in the script), to Gaara's indifferent 'I don't give a damn' in response to Neji's 'That's not what you're supposed to say', and Sasuke's attempt at seducing Naruto (patting him briefly on the shoulder with a pained expression on his face). After two hours of this abysmal viewing Kakashi made an announcement. The pair who put on the most convincing performance the night of the play would win two tickets to see Dir En Grey in concert *. Everyone's eyes lit up and Kakashi could see the resolution creeping across their faces. He told everyone but the Sins that they could go home.  
When the others had all left Kakashi addressed the remaining group.

"I want you all to practice your parts in real life."

Seeing the confused expressions he explained further.

"I want you to try and get your partner to commit the sin you're playing. It'll help you get into the part better in rehearsals!"

"Wait, you want us to do what?"

"Okay, an example then. Shino I want you to try get Temari to buy something recklessly, Choji get Ino to break her diet, and so on. Remember, it could help you win those tickets."

When he knew they understood, he told them they could go. He gave them one more quick instruction before they left.

"Don't let the others know what you're up to. It'll be more convincing that way!"

They all nodded and filed out of the Hall.

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*They're the first band to pop into my head!

I know it's kind of short, but the chapters do get longer the further into the story it gets. Scouts honour! (Well, I'm not actually a scout, but you get the idea!)

Anyhoo, onwards to chapter two!!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue!

This fic was mainly supposed to be SasuNaru and NejiGaara, but then ShikaIno joined in…and then another couple and then another. So hopefully there's something for everyone here! The next chapter will be the first M one and will contain yaoi. This is both a warning, and a promise! :)

**Tempt Me **

The next couple of days rehearsing continued along the same way. Kakashi informed them that, so far, they were all so awful that he'd probably be keeping the concert tickets for himself. In the wake of this announcement the gang all decided to meet up the next day to figure out what they were going to do. Since tomorrow was Saturday they'd have the whole day to practice.

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Saturday arrived and saw Sasuke making his way towards Naruto's house. They were all supposed to meet up in half an hour and, if Sasuke knew Naruto, he was probably still in bed. As Sasuke strolled in the direction of Naruto's, he tried to figure out what he was going to do. He'd said to Naruto a couple of days ago that in order to seduce him he'd have to be a really good actor. The problem was he was afraid he'd be too good an actor, what with there being just a touch of realism involved and all. He'd managed to disguise his feelings for Naruto until now, but if he had to seduce Naruto on stage...........well let's just say he was afraid of getting a little carried away.  
He cut off his thoughts as he rang the bell. It was answered shortly after by Naruto's uncle Iruka. Before he could even say anything he was told that Naruto was upstairs and was probably still asleep. Sighing, Sasuke stomped upstairs to Naruto's room. Having had to wake Naruto up before, he knew he was not in for a pleasant experience. Which, ironically, was the complete opposite of what he got when he entered Naruto's room. Naruto was standing in the middle of his room, scratching the back of his head, obviously looking for something. That he was awake wasn't the pleasant surprise, (well not totally). What Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from was the fact that Naruto was standing in the middle of the room with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Sasuke's eyes tried to drink their fill before Naruto could notice he was there.  
Finally Naruto turned around, yelping when he realised Sasuke was there. While Naruto yelled at Sasuke for using his emo powers to sneak up on people, Sasuke stared at the bruise on his stomach. Before he could stop himself, or scream at himself to come to his senses, he'd walked over to Naruto and was lightly touching the bruise. Naruto stared at him with a startled expression on his face.

"What did you do dobe?"

Naruto looked confused, then flustered when he realised what he was talking about.

"Oh, I tripped over my laces and fell down the stairs yesterday morning."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn't remove his hand. Instead his fingers started tracing out patterns on Naruto's stomach, slowly making their way up to his chest, then back down to his stomach again. Naruto's breath had quickened a little but he didn't tell Sasuke to take his hand away. Sasuke looked at Naruto and could see the confused expression back on his face. He figured if Naruto asked what he was doing he could just tell him he was practicing for the play. When he blushed and looked away, Sasuke removed his hand. Expecting to be shouted at for being a weird teme, or a pervert, Sasuke was surprised when all Naruto asked was how long did they have until they had to meet up with the others. Slightly shocked, it took Sasuke a minute to reply. Naruto was acting as if nothing had happened! He left the room and waited in the kitchen for Naruto to get ready. He chatted to Iruka about school, then said goodbye when Naruto appeared announcing he was ready.  
They left the house and made their way to Neji and Hinata's house, where they were meeting the others. Naruto chatted away the whole way there, never giving any indication that something strange had happened. Sasuke began to wonder if maybe Naruto really was that clueless, and thought that friends did that kind of thing all the time. Again he was cut off before he could finish his thoughts, this time because he had to dive to one side as Naruto was glomped on the Hyuuga doorstep by an over-enthused Lee.

"Naruto, my friend!!! I could sense your overwhelming youthfulness before you even rang the doorbell!!!!!"

Naruto was trying, and failing, to pry Lee off him. He looked over at Sasuke, his eyes pleading for help. Sasuke let a smirk slowly make its way across his face, then he turned and strolled into the house to cries of 'teme!'. He could hear Lee telling Naruto not to waste his youthfulness on such an unworthy soul. As he entered the sitting room Temari whizzed past him, on her way to save Naruto. He sat down on an armchair near the door and looked around the room.  
Kiba and Shino were sitting on the floor playing the Playstation. On which Shino was expressionlessly kicking Kiba's ass. Kiba was growling and punching buttons while Hinata sat on the other side of him, 'cheering him on'. In reality she sat there and said 'oh!' every so often. Shikamaru lay on the floor beside the couch with a script over his face, 'studying'. Ino was kneeling beside him, prodding him in the side. Sakura was sitting on the couch with Neji and Kankuro, while Gaara sat on the armchair beside them. When he asked where Choji was, he was told he wouldn't be coming because there was some sort of food festival on in the next town. A minute or two later Temari reappeared with a detached Lee and Naruto. She sat on the arm of Gaara's armchair while the other two looked for somewhere to sit. Lee settled for sitting in front of the couch with his back leaning against it, while Naruto plonked himself down on the floor against Sasuke's armchair. Sasuke tried to ignore Naruto's proximity to him when they started to talk about the play. Temari started off the discussion.

"Well clearly we need more practice. If we're as bad as Kakashi says we are then we need to do a lot of work."

They all agreed and asked what they should do. Temari suggested that they all split up into their groups and work on their parts like that. After all, the prize was for the pair who pulled off the most convincing performance. They all split up and went to different rooms to practice. The Hyuuga house was a mansion so they didn't exactly have to worry about finding space!

----------------------------------------------------------

"'You want to hurt him don't you? You warned him before but he ignored you. It's only right that you should make good on your threat,'" was droned out monotonously.

Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Emm, maybe try to make it sound more convincing? Like, oh I don't know, like you're actually alive and not one of the living dead!?"

Gaara raised an 'eyebrow'.

"This is pointless, the play is stupid and so is the part of Wrath."

"Strange, I would have thought that would be the ideal part for you."

Gaara threw Neji a death glare.

"See what I mean?"

Gaara sighed and agreed to try it again. Neji began to regret his insistence when Gaara seemed to grow taller than him, his eyes filled with anger as he insisted that Neji get revenge on some poor unspecified individual. Staring into the wrath filled eyes, Neji had to ask one thing.

"Are you wearing your sister's eyeliner?"

--------------------------------------------------------

"Huh?"

Shikamaru sat up abruptly, giving the unsuspecting Ino a mild cardiac arrest. She yelled as she hit him around the head with her copy of the script.

"What the hell was that for?? And what do you mean 'huh?' You sleep through our entire meeting and then wake up and randomly ask 'huh?'!!"

Shikamaru scratched his head.

"Nothing. I just thought I heard a scream from somewhere in the house."

"Well you were obviously imagining it."

Shikamaru seemed to notice for the first time that there was no one else in the room. He asked Ino where everybody was.

"They've all gone off to practice, which is what I was trying to do when you chose to return to the land of the living! You obviously weren't going to be doing much rehearsing so I decided to stay and work here. Now go back to sleep so I can continue."

Shikamaru sighed and mumbled about how troublesome it all was as he placed the script back over his face again. After a few minutes of listening to Ino talking, he realised he wasn't going to be getting much sleep. So, without Ino noticing, he shifted the pages slightly so he could watch her practice. He stayed that way until he dropped off to sleep again.

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Sasuke was beginning to get annoyed. Every time he moved closer to him, Naruto shuffled a little further away. Eventually Sasuke lost it.

"Damnit Naruto! How are we supposed to practice when you won't let me within five feet of you!!"

Naruto started to turn red and mumbled something incomprehensible. Sasuke sighed, knowing it was his fault Naruto was acting so weird, but refusing to bring up the subject of what he'd done. Naruto finally agreed not to keep moving away and the rehearsal continued. Sasuke rested his hand against Naruto's cheek.

"'Don't tell me you don't want it Little Innocent. I can feel it. Your desire. You don't understand what you want but I can show you. If you let me that is."

Sasuke lowered his head until their lips were centimetres apart. He waited for Naruto to say his lines, but nothing came. He looked into Naruto's eyes and saw the same confusion from earlier in them. The seconds ticked by and they stayed frozen in the same position. Sasuke could feel himself getting lost in Naruto's eyes. Suddenly, a knock on the door broke the spell and Naruto stepped away from Sasuke's hand. Temari opened the door and asked them if they wanted to come downstairs to get something to eat. Naruto yelled delightedly and ran out the door, leaving Sasuke to follow behind him.

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It came to light over their pizza that Neji and Hinata's parents were away for the next couple of days. This, of course, led to the immediate announcement of a party to take place the next night. Hinata blushed and pointed out, with great hesitation, that they had school the day after the planned party. The others laughed it off, telling her not to worry. She didn't even drink at parties anyway! It was settled that everyone would arrive at the house at around eight and would bring their own drink. Hinata still seemed apprehensive about the party but, as this wasn't anything unusual, the others paid no attention to her.

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Please review and let me know what you think!!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Let me check…hmmm nope, still don't own Naruto!

Warning: There will by yaoi/boyxboy in this chapter! If you don't like it don't read it.

I had fun writing this chapter, probably because I love writing characters drunk! You get to show their free and hidden aspects. It's been my experience that you see some strange things when alcohol gets involved, and people definitely do things they wouldn't normally do! It also explains why the characters may seem OOC, but that's just my opinion on how they'd act if they were drunk!

(Btw, they're all aged from around 17-19).

Also, I want to thank everyone that wrote a review so far. They make me squeal like the fangirl that I am! (my email's being a bitch at the moment so I can't check who left the review), but the review about Neji being a brave man made me _laugh_!

Anyway, onwards…

**Tempt Me**

Sunday night arrived and so did the Hyuuga's guests. When everybody was there, they decided to start the night off with a drinking game. Ten o'clock found many drunken teenagers rolling around the sitting room floor, laughing at nothing in particular. Someone turned the music up full blast and people start to wander around the house causing general mayhem. There was a game of hide and seek taking place on the second floor. Neji decided he should probably go and investigate the continuous crashing sounds from the floor above. As soon as he left, Shino grabbed Sasuke and Gaara.

"Dudes, I just had the greatest idea ever."

Sasuke tilted his head left, then right...........then left, then right.......this continued until he started to feel slightly more dizzy than he already did. Gaara stumbled a little as he stood up and laughed. When they realised Shino was waiting for a reaction they asked him what this great idea was.

"We, and I suppose we better tell the other ones too, we so have to get the rest of them to do it."

Sasuke looked very confused.

"Either I'm drunker than I thought, or you just made absolutely no sense at all!"

"You are drunk, but he didn't make any sense either."

Shino tried to explain his thought process better.

"The three of us, and the other Sins, should try and make our victims commit our sins. And the best thing is if we manage it, we can blame Temari. She's said that more practise had to be us........err done."

Gaara and Sasuke pondered the idea for awhile. Then they realised how much fun they could have with it. They told Shino his idea was inspired, (or as they put it 'insprid.....ispirid.....really good!'). The word quickly spread amongst the other Sins and the nights entertainments were set.

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Kiba started to complain that they were running low on booze and, seeing it as his opportunity, Shino volunteered himself and Temari to go get more. They headed down to the midnight market with money from everyone. They had to pass through many stalls to get to the one that sold alcohol, it took them even longer to get through them with Temari stopping over a dozen times to coo over pretty things. They bought their drink and Shino offered to carry all the bags. Temari seemed slightly surprised, but handed him the bags. She paused mid-hum as they were passing a stall with ornamental fans for sale. Temari prodded and poked all of them, declaring they were the coolest things she'd ever seen.

"So why don't you buy one then?"

Temari looked back at Shino and sighed.

"I don't have any money on me. I spent it on the drink."

She looked hopefully at Shino who shook his head.

"Sorry, mine is all gone too. They are pretty cool though."

Temari sighed again as she ran her finger over an ivory fan with a three moon design on it.

"Just take it."

She turned with wide eyes to stare at Shino. She whispered to him:

"Are you crazy bug-boy?? I can't just take it! That's stealing!"

Shino shrugged.

"Hey, I was just trying to help. You really seem to want that fan and this is the last night the market is here. They mightn't even have it next time."

He could see her starting to waver, the alcohol freeing her inhibitions. He told her he was going to talk to the stall owner. He'd probably be distracted and wouldn't notice if one of the fans went missing. He wasn't telling her what to do, she could decide herself what to do with the opportunity. Shino struck up a conversation with the owner for a few minutes. Then, deciding Temari had had enough time one way or the other, he said his goodbyes and walked away. They walked out of the market silently. When they were a safe distance away Shino turned to Temari and raised a questioning eyebrow. Temari grinned and pulled the ivory fan out of her pocket. She flicked it open and danced with it the entire way back to the house.

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Hinata staggered as she made her way into the kitchen. She couldn't figure out what was wrong, she was drinking the non-alcoholic sodas Lee had given her but they were making her feel strange. (She was unaware that Lee viewed alcohol as a path to youthfulness and hadn't ever bought anything with the words 'non-alcoholic' on the label). She kind of liked it though. She didn't feel really embarrassed or shy all the time, and everything seemed funnier. She walked into the kitchen to see Naruto, Kiba, and Sakura having shot contests. She could hear Kiba growling at Naruto as the blond won again. He complained it wasn't fair that the blond got everything. It almost sounded like Kiba was jealous of Naruto. A slightly dimmed light-bulb went off over Hinata's head. She'd heard about the plot between all the Sins but she hadn't really planned on doing anything about it. However, with her newly found 'courage', she thought she might do her part.

She strolled up and asked them what they were doing. Sakura told her they were having competitions to see who could knock back shots the fastest, and that Naruto was winning. Hinata rested her elbows on the table and smiled up at Naruto.

"That's not that surprising. Naruto seems to be good at everything!"

Naruto grinned back and gave her a thumbs up, completely oblivious to what she was doing. Kiba had obviously noticed if the dark look on his face was anything to go by. She had no idea why Kiba was so jealous of Naruto, but she was going to exploit it just for tonight if it meant being able to finish her assignment for Kakashi-sensei. She'd prove she could do it! Kiba growled at Naruto that they were starting again. The competition continued another five rounds before Kiba admitted defeat. When Naruto was announced as the winner Hinata 'yay'-ed and hugged him. They both collapsed onto the ground where they sat laughing. Kiba got up silently and left the room. Sakura was the only that noticed his clenched fists.

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Neji rushed into the dining room and locked the door behind him. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the door panting.

"Any particular reason you locked yourself in here?"

Neji's eyes shot open as a voice questioned him from the dark. When his eyes adjusted he could see Gaara leaning back against the dining room table. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Lee's drunk. He thinks everyone wants him to hug them. I'm hiding."

Gaara smirked as the wheels in his head began to turn.

"Hiding in here's a bit pathetic isn't it?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. What, you can't even stand up to Lee? Obviously you're not as tough as you pretend to be."

Neji's eyes had narrowed into slits.

"You're right. The chance of getting hugged by Lee is far more appealing than being stuck here with you, so I guess I'll take my chances."

Neji turned to unlock the door. Gaara panicked. He probably wouldn't get another chance to tempt Neji with wrath and he couldn't face telling the others he hadn't been able to do it. He hastily searched his alcohol shrouded brain for something that would stop Neji from leaving. He suddenly remembered something and opened his mouth to say it. There were faint alarm bells going off in the back of his head, indicating he would probably regret what he was about to say.

"Is it because you're gay?"

Neji's hand froze before it reached the key.

"What did you say?"

"I just wanted to know if you were hiding from Lee because you're a fairy."

Neji had turned and was now staring daggers at him, daring him to continue. Which Gaara did.

"I should've known really, what with the girly long hair and all. Did you grow it to attract the boys? Aw do they think you're pretty? Come on Neji, tell---"

At that point Neji made an unsteady dive for him and the next thing Gaara knew there was a fist connecting with the left side of his face. Gaara gently prodded his cheek, wincing as he thought about the bruise he'd have tomorrow. He couldn't help smirking though, he'd achieved his aim. He pulled himself up so he was sitting on the table. He took in the sight of the seething, and slightly unsteady, Neji standing in front of him. Neji didn't usually snap so easily, he must be drunker than usual. Gaara smirked again, ignoring the alarms trying to get his attention through the haze.

"You must be really lonely Neji. You have no girlfriend and I can't see what a guy would want with you. It must be tough."

Gaara became wary when Neji smirked back at him. Maybe he'd pushed him too far.

"Oh, so you want to know what a guy would see in me? Well then....."

With that he lunged onto Gaara, forcing him to lie on the table.

"....I wouldn't want to disappoint."

Gaara barely had time to register the position he was in before he felt a mouth pressed against his. His eyes widened in shock as he realised what Neji was doing. He kept his mouth resolutely closed against all Neji's attempts to gain access. That is, until Neji bit down on his bottom lip. Hard. Gaara gasped and was sure he could taste blood as Neji's tongue entered his mouth. He realised fast that this wasn't some sensitive school-girl kiss. Neji was mapping out his mouth with his tongue, and whenever Gaara's tongue came into contact with it he was speedily wrestled into submission. Indignation started to rise up within Gaara. First Neji pounced on him and now he had him completely controlled. Gaara's pride wouldn't let him give up without a fight.

When an unsuspecting Neji felt fingernails dig into his shoulders he gasped in shock. The even bigger shock came when Gaara used his momentary distraction as an opening to deepen the kiss, sliding his own tongue deeper into Neji's mouth. Neji smirked against Gaara's lips. It wouldn't have been any fun if it wasn't a challenge. Suddenly he broke away from the kiss leaving Gaara staring up at him in a daze. Before Gaara had a chance to come to his senses Neji lowered his head to the collarbone in front of him and bit it. He could feel Gaara tense up, but was rewarded with a whimper when he started to suck on the area gently. He felt hands tangle in his hair and didn't protest when he was urged back to meet searing lips.

Ignoring the voice that was screaming about consequences, Neji slid his hand down until it stopped at the waist of Gaara's pants. When there was no move made to stop him, Neji unbuttoned and unzipped them. Unsure if he should continue or not, Neji started to move his hand away. That is, until he heard Gaara moaning 'please'. The plea was so quiet Neji almost missed it. But now that he knew Gaara wanted it he had no problem picking up where he left off. His hand slid into Gaara's pants and slipped under the waist of the boxers. Neji paused for a moment, then grabbed hold of him. Gaara's hips bucked as he felt Neji's hand wrap around him. Then the hand started it's journey from base to tip and back again at an excruciatingly slow pace. Gaara groaned and could feel Neji's smirk. God damn him! Wait, what was he thinking?! He shouldn't be cursing him for going too slow, he should be pushing Neji away and making it quite clear he wasn't gay. He didn't want to do this with any guy, let alone Neji! Almost as if he could read his thoughts, Neji tightened his grip on Gaara, causing him to give a louder moan as the speed was picked up.

Fuck it, Gaara thought. Tomorrow I'll just blame it on the drink. But right now I want him, I want this. God I want it! Neji smiled to himself as Gaara gave his loudest moan yet. He knew Gaara was frustrated that he was drawing it out this long, but he'd wanted to do this for so long and now Gaara got to see how it felt. He gave one long, slow stroke and was rewarded with another thrust from Gaara. He pulled his lips away so he could see Gaara. The redhead's eyes were screwed shut and a bead of sweat slid its way down his neck. Neji's hand was picking up the speed and he started to apply a little extra pressure. Gaara's body arched up against his and Neji had to swallow his own moan. Gaara's hands were digging into his shoulders again and he could feel Gaara's moans and panting breath by his ear. Gaara could feel a tightening in his stomach and knew what was coming. Part of him was glad, the pleasure was excruciating and he wanted it to end. Another part of him never wanted Neji to move away again. All he could think about was the fact that it was Neji, it was Neji that was touching him. He squeezed his eyes shut even tighter, wanting more and more and more. Neji heard the hitch in his breath and then he felt Gaara tense under him. He had to bite Gaara's shoulder to stop himself from groaning as he heard Gaara cry out his name. By the time Gaara was spent Neji was pretty sure the fingernails had drawn blood.

Neji lifted his head and looked at Gaara, flushed and gasping for breath. He lowered his mouth to Gaara's and kissed him. Not the same anger and frustration driven one as before, just a soft chaste kiss. Gaara opened his eyes and stared at him in surprise.

"Neji---"

Someone chose that moment to knock on the dining room door. They both looked towards it in surprise, having forgotten where they were.

"Hey, who's in there? Neji if you're in there please come out quick, you're parents are on the phone and they want to make sure you're not destroying the place while they're gone."

Neji sighed.

"Yeah, I'm in here Sakura. Tell them I'm coming."

With that he lifted himself off the table, and Gaara. He grabbed a napkin off the bundle on a shelf and wiped his hand with it. He turned and ran his eyes over Gaara's relaxed form sprawled on the table top. He smirked and tossed him one.

"You may need that."

With something that looked suspiciously like a grin, Neji turned and left the room. Gaara could hear his voice fading down the hall. He turned the napkin over in his hands and thought about what had just happened. Neji had been right about one thing. He didn't disappoint.

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Ino dodged out of Neji's way just in time. He was too busy shouting at someone on the phone to watch where he was going. She continued her frolic into the kitchen, where she found Shikamaru asleep on the kitchen counter. She skipped over and patted him on the head.

"Poor sleepy Shikamaru. Sleepy sleepy."

Choji wandered in behind her, looking for a snack. When he saw the chocolate cake on the counter an evil plan began to formulate in his mind. He looked from the cake to Ino and back again.

"Wow! Hey Ino, look at that! Doesn't that cake just look scrumptious?"

"Ooh, it does doesn't it. It's a pity I'm on my diet."

Time for a different approach.

"Yeah, Sakura said you'd chicken out. She said there was no way you could eat an entire cake."

Ino had a maniacal glint in her eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well I'll show her! Pfft, thinking I can't eat a cake."

With more fervour than Choji had ever seen her display in her life before, Ino attacked the cake. Deciding that cutlery would only slow her down she just used her hands. Choji watched stunned, his mouth dropping open in awe, as Ino seemed to inhale the cake. When she finished she turned and gave Choji a proud chocolate grin. Wordlessly, he handed her a towel to clean her face and an Alco pop to wash the chocolate down with. A moment or two passed and Choji finally saw realisation dawning on the blonde's face.

"M-M-My diet.............it's ruined!"

Choji started to laugh maniacally, delighted to have gotten one up on Ino. Said blonde began to wail and this, clashing together with Choji's grating laugh, had Shikamaru growling and rising from his horizontal position on the kitchen counter. After a brief explanation from Choji, between gasps for air, Shikamaru sighed and shook his head.

"So troublesome."

This was followed by a very articulate 'urk!' as Ino launched herself at him, soaking his shoulders with seemingly endless tears. He pried her off and set her sitting beside him on the counter. Choji left the kitchen, still chuckling delightedly to himself. Ino's sobs had slowed to a hiccup speed. Shikamaru sighed again and started patting her on the shoulder, trying to console her. Ino wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. She sniffled again.

"It's not fair, now my diet is ruined. I'm going to be fat and ugly forever, nobody'll ever like me, and I'll die alone with twenty cats!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the last part.

"I was only on the diet so guys would like me an' now that'll never happen. I don't want any cats! Guys never like me."

"Whine, whine, whine. That's all you girls ever do! Who cares about your weight??"

Ino looked up at Shikamaru with confused, tear-filled eyes.

"You're all so obsessed with weight and guys liking you. You look perfect without losing any weight, and any guy that can't see that is an idiot!"

Ino's eyes widened as she stared, stunned, at the normally calm Shikamaru ranting. She broke him off part way through his rant.

"You think I'm perfect?"

The articulate 'urk' made a reappearance. Shikamaru's hands tightened around the edge of the counter and he resolutely gazed in the opposite direction.

"I'm not trying to compliment you or anything, so don't go getting weird ideas. I'm just telling the truth."

Ino didn't say a word and Shikamaru turned to see what the problem was. His vision was cut off when Ino threw her arms around him. Attempting to keep his balance, and his seat on the counter, he stuck his arms straight out at the sides and started waving them around. Thankfully he managed to stop them from taking to the air. He was contemplating the best way to shake her off when she spoke.

"Thank you. Nobody's ever said that to me before."

The expression in his eyes softened as he felt her snuggle in closer to him. After hesitating a moment, and taking a quick look around, Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her. He heard her sigh and rested his head against hers, knowing she probably wouldn't remember it in the morning anyway.

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Naruto pranced past an angry Kiba and Sakura. They were yelling and seemed oblivious to the people around them.

"Well if you love her so much why don't you just marry her, dog-breath?!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Ha! You don't have the balls to do something like that!"

Naruto fazed out their bickering as he wandered past them, into the seemingly deserted sitting room. He froze when he realised there was someone there already. Hesitantly, Naruto wondered if he should go in. The teme hadn't seen him yet and he could easily make his escape. Suddenly Naruto realised what he was doing. He was acting like a coward! Running away scared just because Sasuke was in the room.............alone. But that was beside the point. He was suddenly struck with a 'brilliant' plan. One which, when enacted, would lead him to later---like so many others would---blame the alcohol. Filled with mischievous intent, Naruto continued on into the room.

Sasuke looked up from where he was lying on the couch. He had both hands behind his head, which was lying against the armrest. He looked completely at ease and a little drunk, perfect for Naruto. Sasuke was a little surprised to see Naruto heading over to him of his own free will, considering how he'd avoided Sasuke like Tsunade avoided AA meetings ever since their little...........encounter? Whatever. Sasuke didn't care as long as the dobe was actually going to talk to him again. He'd never admit it, not even under the pain of Lee's hugs, but he missed having Naruto around. So, after all the weirdness directed at him recently, you can understand how Sasuke may have been a little shocked when, instead of sitting beside him, Naruto sat on top of him with his knees on either side of Sasuke's hips. Sasuke's eyes moved to his stomach, where Naruto had placed his hands.

"I just wanted to say sorry teme. Y'know, for acting all weird and stuff lately. I was a little freaked out when you were acting strange and all. I should have known you weren't serious, that you'd never really mean something like that."

Something about Naruto's voice forced Sasuke's eyes away from the hands, and up to his face. The expression there was confusing, and things became even more confusing when Naruto leaned down and whispered into Sasuke's ear:

"Would you teme?"

Sasuke suppressed a shiver as the husky tone washed over him.

Naruto didn't know where this had gone wrong. He'd only meant to tease and torture Sasuke for awhile, but now he was tormenting himself too. He didn't even recognise his own voice when he whispered to Sasuke. In the back of his mind he knew there was only so much he could blame on the alcohol. He quickly squashed that thought down. It was obviously all the alcohol's fault. That could be the only reason he was sitting here praying that Sasuke would touch him, kiss him, anything.

Sasuke continued to lay in the same position, only moving his eyes across Naruto. Slowly, Sasuke removed his right arm from behind his head. He began to gently trace the outline and contours of Naruto's face. Then, bringing his other hand up, he used his thumbs to trace the faint scars on Naruto's cheeks. Eyes concentrated on his hands' paths, he didn't notice Naruto's eyes becoming half-lidded as he leant into the caresses. Naruto whined a little, wanting more. Sasuke's eyes were filled with amusement when he finally looked at Naruto's face. His hands gently tugged Naruto's face down, closer to his own. They were so close Sasuke could hear the other boys quickened breath, and feel it puffing against his lips. However, Sasuke didn't close the distance. He still wasn't sure if Naruto realised what he was doing and was giving him a chance to get out while he could.

Naruto could feel Sasuke's breath on his lips, he could feel his heartbeat under the hands that had mysteriously moved further up his chest. While Naruto was wondering why Sasuke had stopped, what he was doing began to filter through to his brain. What the hell was he doing?! He was straddling Sasuke and practically begging him to touch him. Naruto started to panic a little, and he could feel his body stiffen. He could tell that Sasuke had noticed because he started to pull away. Suddenly the thought of Sasuke leaving him caused an even more powerful sense of panic to take him over. This fear made him clutch onto the front of Sasuke's top tighter and treated him to a look of surprise from Sasuke. Even though he knew that tomorrow he'd regret what he was about to do, he knew that he'd regret it right now if he didn't do it.

Sasuke wasn't sure if he'd really heard the whine, or if he'd imagined the clutching of his top, but he knew he wasn't imagining it when Naruto leaned back towards him, their lips seconds apart from meeting. They stayed like that for a moment before Sasuke realised that Naruto's courage had taken him as far as it could. So, taking pity on them both, he closed the distance. The kiss was slow and gentle, both trying to find their footing in this new arena. Naruto tried to suppress a moan as he felt a tongue invade his mouth. He could feel Sasuke's answering vibration when he began to stroke it with his own, pulling it further into his mouth. He needed to be closer to Sasuke, so he slid his hands upwards until they were either side of the raven's head on the armrest, then lay as flat against Sasuke's body as he could.

Said raven loved the feeling of Naruto against him, but knew how to make it feel better. Quickly, and swallowing Naruto's yelp of surprise, Sasuke flipped them over so that he was on top. Naruto briefly considered challenging Sasuke's new position, that is, before Sasuke placed one of his legs between Naruto's. He now found one of his legs flush against Sasuke's cloth covered cock while he straddled one of Sasuke's legs. Sasuke pulled back a little to watch Naruto as he thrust against him. Naruto was able to bite back the moan, but not his body's reaction as it mirrored the move. Sasuke continued to repeat this motion until both their bodies began to move in time with each other. The tempo started to pick up and Naruto dragged Sasuke's lips back down to his own. This was different to their earlier kiss. While that had been slow and careful, this one was full of lust and need. Naruto moaned as he felt his body thrust faster against Sasuke's, shivering when he felt Sasuke groan.

Sasuke felt as if he was standing on an edge, waiting to cross it. He could feel himself getting closer to it every time Naruto's hips moved up to meet him. He could hear something in the background and tried to ignore it, pressing closer to Naruto. The noise became more and more insistent until Sasuke could make out what it was. What he could hear was Sakura calling for him and getting closer.

Shit.

His eyes flew open as did Naruto's. After a split second of frozen panic they leapt away from each other, attempting to make themselves presentable and not at all suspicious looking. After they both found their calming thought, (Gai-sensei blowing kisses at them), they felt their 'problems' weren't as obvious by the time Sakura found them. Telling them that Neji needed to talk to Sasuke she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away. Throwing one almost pleading look over his shoulder Sasuke saw Naruto grin and skip off in the opposite direction.

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After leaving Sasuke with Sakura, Naruto had gone to find more booze and was now very comfortably smashed. Deciding that it may be a good idea to sit until the room stopped free falling, Naruto slid down a wall next to an open doorway. He wondered vaguely why Kankuro was cackling as he passed by. However, all such thoughts were driven forcibly from his mind when he heard two people in the next room talking.

"So what you say Hinata? How 'bout we get married?"

"But Kiba, what about our families? I-I don't think they'd be v-v-very pleased by it."

"So we don't tell them about it! Aw c'mon Hinata, it'll be fun!"

Pause.

"Okay so, why not!"

"Woo hoo!! C'mon we have to get to a church!"

"Yeah! It'll be fun!"

Under normal circumstances Naruto would probably have wondered if someone had drugged Hinata, but seeing as he was just as worse for wear as she was all he did was jump out at them yelling:

"Cool! A wedding! Can I come?"

When they had recovered from the minor stroke he had caused them, they exclaimed the more the merrier. Anyway, wasn't there something about there having to be two witnesses for the marriage to take place? That meant they needed to find someone else to come with them. They were stumbling along, trying to think of someone they could trust, when they heard muffled banging coming from a hall closet. Deciding to investigate further, they listened for another minute or two trying to guess who it was, then swung the door open. The light from the hallway illuminated a very cramped Lee squashed into the closet. Kiba, Hinata, and Naruto burst into fits of laughter as Lee unwound himself while muttering something about Kankuro not being very youthful.

When he no longer looked like a human knot, Hinata asked him if he wanted to join them for the wedding. Declaring he was truly touched and honoured Lee burst into tears, crying about unified youthfulness and how inspiring it was. The other three tried to ignore his ramblings as they hauled him outside. Once they were out of the house they agreed that it would be even more fun if they skipped to their destination. Which is why they all linked arms and skipped off in the direction of the church.

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At about two a.m. the tail end of the guests were leaving the Hyuuga mansion, knowing that they all had to get up for school the next day. Sakura herded the last of them out and called out a good night to Neji. He asked if she knew had everyone gotten home alright. She told him as far as she knew everyone was fine. She, Shino, Sasuke, and Choji were walking home together. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari had obviously gone together. She'd seen Lee, Kiba, Hinata, and Naruto leave earlier. Then Shikamaru had offered to walk/drag/carry Ino home as it was on his way. Neji nodded, pleased that nobody had left on their own. He said goodnight to Sakura, then locked up when he was sure they were all okay.

He yawned as he made his way upstairs to his room, knowing he was going to suffer in the morning, and not just from the inescapable hangover. He averted his eyes as he passed the dining room. There was something though, he wasn't sure what, but the whole time he was getting ready for bed he was sure something wasn't right. Finding it too hard to concentrate through the fumes, he figured he'd just leave the thinking to his pained sober brain in the morning. With that he climbed into his bed and fell into an almost comatose like state.

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If anyone's thinking that someone is acting strange, I refer you to my earlier comments about alcohol and OOC-ness.

Please review! Reviews make me feel all giggly and gooey inside!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: If I owned this series it'd be called Icha Icha Naruto!

Warning: boyxboy

Thank you all for your lovely, lovely reviews! They make me feel like I've hooked a caffeine drip to my vein!! XD Also I'm so sorry for the wait for the next chapter! I always have the best of intentions, but I never seem to meet my own deadlines. I blame college, practical's, and trade exams!!

**Tempt Me**

The alarm went off at seven a.m, causing Neji to groan in agony as he wondered who had left the rampaging hoard of tap dancing elephants into his head. Unable to find the switch that deactivated the alarm Neji threw it at the opposing wall, wincing at the crash it made when it broke. Lying in bed, willing himself to move, he remembered thinking something was wrong the previous night. Despite the fact that the elephants were now wearing clogs, he decided he should try to figure out what the problem was. Figuring the best way to go about it was to work backwards, he started with his good night conversation with Sakura. It took around .5 of a second for him to realise what was wrong. Shooting upright in the bed, he yelled:

"Hinata lives _here_!"

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Iruka poked his head into Naruto's room and surveyed the chaos around him. Apparently when Naruto had arrived home last night he'd seen fit to tango with every moveable object in his bedroom. Said blonde was currently collapsed half-on, half-off his bed, with 'delicate' snores escaping from his practically unhinged mouth. Grimacing, and attempting to avoid the drool, Iruka shook Naruto awake. When he had Naruto's hung-over, squinty-eyed attention he delivered his message.

"A frenzied Neji was just on the phone looking for Hinata. I told him that she was here and that she was safe."

Naruto nodded, wondering why Iruka had woken him up just to tell him this.

"Oh, and Naruto? Get up and get dressed. You have forty five minutes to get to school."

Naruto wanted to cry.

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In the room next to Naruto's, a very confused Hinata was just waking up. She held up her left hand to block the sunlight peeking in through the curtains. She froze when she noticed there was something gleaming on her hand. She felt a sense of panic beginning to pervade her system as snippets of the night before came back to her. She pushed herself into a sitting position on the strange bed, (she could worry about her unknown location later). Shaking, she lifted her hand and brought it up to her eyes, fearing what she was about to see. There was a simple gold band on her left ring finger. She stayed staring at it for what felt like an eternity, trying to grasp the obvious. She was broken out of her reverie by the appearance of Iruka in her doorway. She slid her hand under her leg and smiled shyly at Iruka as he explained that he'd driven over to her house and Neji had given him clothes for her. He left the bag in the room, and told her she had twenty minutes to get ready before they had to leave for the school.

Hinata stared after him for a minute before leaping up off the bed and hurrying to get changed. When she was ready she reached for the doorknob, but stopped just before she turned it. Looking at the ring, she decided to deal with it later as she slipped it into her pants pocket.

She wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the counter as Iruka placed a plate of toast in front of her. She ate as fast as she could and tossed back a glass of milk, then stood up and headed over to where Iruka was standing by the door. Hinata became very confused when they started to put their jackets on.

"S-Shouldn't we be waiting for Naruto?"

Iruka just smiled.

"Don't worry, this is his routine."

"W-W-What kind of routine?"

Her question was answered almost as soon as she asked it. An orange blur zoomed past them and over to the counter. Iruka continued to get ready to leave, apparently completely unperturbed by the dazing spectacle. Hinata watched in amazement as Naruto inhaled his toast and gulped down his milk, ending breathlessly beside them in a matter of seconds. Hinata's jaw dropped a little as her two companions simply strolled out the door as if this was a regular occurrence. Which, if she believed Iruka, was probably true.

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Naruto and Hinata strolled into their first class together, laughing about something Naruto had done on the way over. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the startling sight. Not only were they walking in together, but everybody could clearly hear Hinata giggling along with Naruto. Realising that she had the attention of the entire class, Hinata's mouth snapped shut while her face instantly turned pink.

Naruto looked around the class as he took his seat, trying to pick out the faces of his fellow victims. Luckily for him, Iruka had put soluble painkillers into his milk this morning, (his miracle cure), so his headache was already starting to wear off. He couldn't help smirking when he saw the pain filled expressions on some of his friends faces. Shino looked paler than usual, Kiba looked ashen-faced, Temari was a strange sort of grey colour, Neji was busy yelling something at Hinata, Lee was shrieking something at Kankuro while the latter cracked his knuckles, Sakura was trying to drag Lee away from Kankuro, Ino was beating Choji around the head with a book, Shikamaru was asleep, and Sasuke was staring back at him. Naruto quickly turned around to face the front of the class again, pretending it was to check if the teacher was there rather than admit he didn't want Sasuke looking at him.

Naruto unfortunately remembered all of the events of the previous night. Diminished capacity was his story and he was sticking to it. He winced as he thought about the conversation he was going to have to duck when Sasuke got a hold of him. A voice in the back of his mind didn't seem to have any problem with Sasuke getting a hold of him, and Naruto tried frantically to drown out the thoughts. Searching for something to distract himself, he realised Gaara wasn't in the classroom. Genuinely curious now, he couldn't help wondering where he was. The red head hated attention and liked to make sure he never had to walk into a class late. He couldn't be hung-over because, no matter what he drank, he was never sick! This line of thought was perfect and kept Naruto distracted for the next few minutes.

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WHACK!

"What--"

WHACK!

"Did--"

WHACK!

"You--"

WHACK!

"Think--"

WHACK!

"You--"

WHACK!

"Were--"

WHACK!

"Doing?!!"

WHACK! WHACK!

"Aagghh!! Ino, cut it out!!"

Ino paused in her assault to glower at Choji. He paused his munching on snacks to cower in fear. Ino gave him another two smacks with his very large textbook, then finally stopped the abuse. She crossed her arms and continued to glare. Choji started to eat faster out of nervousness.

"You made me ruin my diet!! I was doing so well, too! What? Did you just decide it would be fun to pick on a drunken Ino or something?? Will you at least stop eating long enough to defend yourself, you pig!!"

"Pig? Ha! You're one to talk. I'm not the one who scoffed an entire cake last night."

Ino's rage seemed to cause her to grow, and Choji swore he could see a vein throbbing at her temple. Suddenly a sleepy voice interrupted them.

"Back pedal dude. For your own safety."

Choji looked to his left to see Shikamaru half slumped over his desk, his left arm propping up his head. Choji turned back around in time to see Ino turn a faint pink and storm back to her desk. He stared at Shikamaru, wondering if he could shed any light on Ino's behaviour. Shikamaru just shrugged and turned to stare out the windows at the sky. However, Choji noticed that, every so often, Shikamaru's eyes would flicker back to Ino.

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"I wake up this morning to find you gone! Missing! Only to find out you spent the night at Naruto's! What happened? Where did you go?!"

Hinata twiddled her fingers as Neji fired questions at her. She told him she wasn't sure, and he started off on another rant. The truth was Hinata didn't really remember what had happened, but it was coming back to her all the time. Chunks of her memory had come back and, though it was a little hazy, she now knew what she'd done last night.

"Sorry Nii-chan, but I just don't remember. I don't think I did anything bad though."

Her lie was weighing down her pocket.

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Sasuke stared at the back of Naruto's head. His reaction to catching him staring confirmed Sasuke's suspicions that Naruto remembered what had happened between them the night before. Sasuke had told himself that Naruto hadn't known what he was doing, that it was the alcohol making him act the way he had. However, that hadn't stopped the stab of jealousy he'd felt when he'd seen Naruto walk into the class with Hinata, laughing about some private joke. Sasuke mentally shook his mind free of all Naruto related thoughts, putting them aside until he got a chance to talk to Naruto. Which he was determined to do by the end of the day, even if he had to corner him somewhere. Sasuke smirked. He was going to have fun with this.

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At twelve they all had gym for an hour. They were divided according to gender, the girls had gym outside and the boys had it in the gym hall. The boys crowded into their locker room, trying to get changed as fast as possible. Every minute they were late Gai-sensei made them do thirty laps around the gym. They quickly tossed their stuff in their lockers and raced into the gym. Naruto was two minutes late and Gai-sensei told him he had to run sixty laps. Lee volunteered to run them with him and Gai-sensei, delighted by Lee's abundance of youth, agreed. After warming up, they were told today's game was Dodge Ball. Or as their sensei declared, A Fight To The Death!!!...............They preferred to call it Dodge Ball.

They were split up into two teams with Sasuke, Kankuro and Kiba against Neji, Shikamaru and Choji. Sasuke laughed, while Neji just sighed. They were fifteen minutes into the game when the door from the locker room slammed open. All eyes turned to see the person who would dare turn up late for Gai-sensei's class. Gaara's scowling visage stalked over to where Gai-sensei was beckoning him, everyone instinctively began throwing the ball as silently as possible while attempting to listen in. With all the subtlety of a foghorn, Gai-sensei bellowed out Gaara's punishment. Since he was so late, he could run laps of the gym for the last forty five minutes of the class. Noticing that Naruto had stopped running in order to watch what happened, Gai-sensei informed him that he would be keeping Gaara company. Lee declared that he would also run alongside his two fine companions, keeping their morale boosted with his youthfulness! Gaara looked like he'd rather gouge his eyes out with a spoon. As he watched the three of them take off around the gym, Neji's eyes landed on Gaara. Something was nagging him at the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

When the class was finally over, everyone staggered back into the locker room. Neji grabbed his towel from his locker and peeled off his t-shirt, throwing it in inside. He was heading towards the showers when he heard Sasuke whistle behind him.

"Man, Neji. What happened to your back?"

Neji frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Sasuke opened his locker door and pointed to the mirror. Turning slightly, Neji could see what Sasuke was talking about. There were short, deep scratch marks on the backs of his shoulders. Neji was shocked and wracked his brains, trying to think where they could have come from. The nagging feeling was back and Neji instinctively looked for Gaara. He finally found him, standing by his locker getting changed...............shirtless. For some reason Neji found he couldn't move his eyes away. Gaara turned around while Neji was having an internal battle with his eyes. Gaara smirked mischievously and wandered over to Sasuke and Neji.

"What's the matter Hyuuga? Is there some reason you keep staring at my chest?"

"Yeah, I can't stand staring at your face."

Gaara growled as Neji's eyes narrowed. Sasuke put his hand on Neji's shoulder.

"We're just trying to figure out where the scratches on Neji's back came from."

Gaara's smirk made, in Neji's opinion, an unwelcome reappearance.

"Hmm? Did somebody get lucky recently?"

"Hey, Neji, don't tell me you went off with someone last night and never told me. You're supposed to find me before you do so I can check you don't do something you'll regret the next day. Don't tell me you forgot."

Gaara looked puzzled.

"What makes you think it was last night?"

"You can tell, the scratches are fresh."

Neji decided he really didn't want his sex life discussed in front of everyone.

"Shut up Sasuke, I'd appreciate it if you didn't start talking about my sex life in the locker room."

Gaara laughed in disbelief.

"You actually have a sex life? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, guys might be attracted to that long girly hair of yours."

Suddenly Sasuke's laughter faded into the background. With sickening clarity, Neji's memory came back, one particular moment forced to the fore of his mind. He could hear Gaara taunting him about being a fairy. Then, in a flash, he could feel the heat of Gaara's mouth, a body writhing under him, nails digging into his back. When his mind stopped reeling, he came out of it to see a reflection of his own horrified expression on Gaara's face. He knew that Gaara's own memory had been jogged by what he'd said. Neji watched as he turned and left without a word.

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Unable to face sitting at the same lunch table as Sasuke, Naruto ducked outside and sat under a tree eating his lunch. He lay back against the tree with his eyes closed, enjoying the quiet.

"Hiding from someone, dobe?"

And now the quiet was gone. Willing the owner of the voice to leave, Naruto kept his eyes closed. However, when he felt them sit down beside him, he sighed resignedly and opened his eyes. Sasuke was leaning against the tree beside him, sipping a can of cola.

"So, you avoiding me dobe?"

"N-No, why would I be avoiding you?"

"Because we practically screwed on Neji's couch last night?"

"We did not nearly--!"

"Yes. We did."

Sasuke sighed and started to get up.

"But thanks for making it clear where we stand."

He was just about to stand up when he felt a tugging on his shirt. He looked down to see Naruto's hand grasping the end of it. Deciding to see where this was going, he sat back down and faced the blonde. Naruto's head was bent down, and he was still holding on to Sasuke's shirt. Exhaling a little, Naruto began talking in a quiet voice.

"I don't know why I did what I did, okay? Yeah, I was drunk, but I _did _know what I was doing too. I just don't know why. I just......."

Naruto paused, trying to say what he needed to. Sasuke looked at him, attempting to see the expression on his face. All he could see was that it was going red. He waited, praying that Naruto wouldn't say it was just a big mistake.

"I just didn't want you to leave me. Even though you're a complete pain in the ass most of the time, it gets kinda lonely without you."

Sasuke knew he looked stunned, but he couldn't help it. Naruto, friend to everyone, was telling him he was lonely without him. Naruto finally raised his head and looked Sasuke directly in the eye, daring him to make fun of him. What he saw surprised him. Instead of a mocking smirk on his face Sasuke was smiling, really smiling. Naruto could feel himself smiling back. Sasuke steeled himself, knowing that if he didn't do it now he never would.

"You can hit me if you want Naruto, but I have to do something."

Confusion gave way to surprise, which gave way to delight when Sasuke leaned in to capture Naruto's lips with his own. It was brief, but it told them both what they needed to know. Naruto decided that Sasuke tasted like fizzy cola and Sasuke decided that Naruto, unsurprisingly, tasted like ramen. Naruto gave Sasuke a grin that made him want to pounce on the blonde right there. The hand on his shirt tightened its grip.

"Do it again."

Sasuke smirked and, for once, willingly did what he was told.

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The bell rang for the last class of the day and Hinata was heading towards her locker to get a book she had forgotten. However, as she passed the boys locker room a hand reached out and clapped itself around her mouth. She attempted a muffled scream as another hand dragged her into the locker room. Once the door closed she heard a voice telling her not to panic.

"Don't worry Hinata. It's me, I just want to talk."

Recognising Kiba's voice, she stopped flailing at her 'attacker'. There was a sigh of relief from behind her as Kiba moved to shove the door jamb in place, making sure they wouldn't be interrupted.

"D-Do we have to talk now? I-I'm already l-late for class."

"You've being ducking me all day."

The accusation rang in the silence. Hinata blushed at the truth in the words and followed Kiba to a bench so they could sit down. They sat without saying a word for what seemed like forever, before Kiba started to talk.

"Look, Hinata, I don't know how much of last night you remember--"

"I remember it all."

She took out the ring and placed it on her open palm. Kiba did the same with his. They lapsed into silence again, and Hinata's mind flew back to the night before............

**********

_Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, and Lee skipped along the road to the church. They had to pass through the night market to get there. While they were passing/skipping through, Naruto pointed out that they didn't have rings for the wedding. Utterly shocked and appalled by this, Lee made it his mission to track down the best rings in the entire market! He zoomed off and seemed to be back in almost the blink of an eye. When they asked him how he could possibly have afforded the rings, he replied that the glorious hardworking man at the stall had been moved to tears by his continuous speech about the sanctity of youth and had given him the rings with his blessing. They had taken a brief moment to pity the poor stall holder, then continued on their way, (now singing 'We're Off To See The Wizard' to accompany the skipping)._

_About ten minutes later they arrived at the church, excited but slightly out of breath. The attendees of the late ceremony were just leaving when they headed inside. They hurried at a respectful pace to the head of the church, trying to catch the parson before he left. They asked him to perform the wedding ceremony and he refused when he discovered they were a little inebriated. They swore to him that this was what they really wanted, and that they would be happy when they sobered up in the morning. The parson told them in that case they wouldn't mind coming back when they were sober. That was when Lee burst into tears. The elderly parson looked shocked by the outburst and moved to console him. The others tried to warn him that this was not the best idea. That was when Lee threw himself at the man, clinging to his robes and begging him to reconsider. He kept declaring that Hinata and Kiba were very much in love, and that he should be trying to encourage the youthfully exuberant approach to the church, not telling them there was no place for them. If two hardworking youths could not vow their love to each other officially in front of friends and be bound together forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever----. At this point the parson, on the verge of tears, agreed to perform the wedding ceremony._

_It was decided that Naruto would be the best man and Lee would be the maid of honour. (He was won over as soon as the word honour was mentioned). They exchanged their rings and vows without Hinata stuttering once, she didn't think it was because of the alcohol. The parson pronounced them man and wife to the background track of Lee crying waterfalls of tears. Kiba kissed the bride and, when their lips met, they realised they'd never felt happier. They held hands and Hinata giggled as they strolled out of the church, Naruto dragging an overemotional Lee behind him. They wandered back to the market and bought food, pretending it was a wedding feast. After a while they started wondering what they should do now. Naruto and Lee informed them that they had yet to consummate their marriage. They laughed delightedly as Kiba and Hinata blushed a furious red. Naruto and Lee told them it was their treat while they dragged the newlyweds towards the nearest hotel. After they had paid for a room Kiba told them he flat out refused that the two of them be pressured into doing this. Naruto sighed and told them it was fine, they didn't have to do anything but they had to at least spend a few hours in a room together to appease Lee. Taking one look at the tears welling up in Lee's eyes, Kiba and Hinata grabbed the key and ran to find their room. They could hear Naruto yelling that they'd wait there for them._

_They locked the door behind them and sat on the end of the bed, the two of them avoiding each others eyes. As Hinata watched Kiba absentmindedly twist his ring, she tried to find something to say. She placed her hand over his, halting his movements, and he looked up at her._

_"You're so beautiful."_

_Hinata's eyes widened as Kiba clapped his hand over his mouth. His next words came out slightly muffled._

_"I'm sorry. I just always thought you were, but I shouldn't have said it now. I've made things really awkward."_

_"Thank you."_

_Kiba looked at her again and saw a small smile playing on her face as she lifted her eyes to look at him._

_"Nobody's ever told me that before."_

_She laughed a little._

_"Besides, we're married aren't we? It would be strange if you couldn't say it."_

_She leaned over and kissed his cheek. As she pulled away, she could see some unfathomable expression in his eyes. Without really knowing what she was doing, she leaned forward again and pressed her lips to his. Suddenly, mortified and horrified with herself, she jerked back and blushed painfully red. She waited to see what Kiba would say. She felt a hand under her chin, lifting her face to look at his. The next thing she knew, his lips were back on hers. After a minute or so she felt his tongue gently brushing against her lips and, after a moment of hesitation, she parted her lips and welcomed him into her mouth. She heard a moan as his tongue stroked hers, and she realised it was her making the sound. When he eventually pulled back a little she realised at some point they had ended up lying on the bed, wound around each other and missing several items of clothing. She stared up at the boy hovering over her, wondering why he'd pulled away._

_"We don't have to do this if you don't want to."_

_Noticing the startled look on her face, he smiled down at her._

_"I don't want you doing this just because of Naruto or Lee. We can stop before we go any further. Hell, I've wanted this so long, it won't matter if you want to wait a little longer."_

_As he waited above her, completely prepared to stop if she said so, Hinata realised that she trusted him more than she'd trusted anyone in her life. She inexplicably felt that she could trust him: mind, body and soul. Overcome with a newfound courage and strength, she clasped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him closer._

_"That's okay, I trust you."_

_She could feel happiness radiating from him, as it was from her, as hands began to slide around her body. The rest was blurred and hazy, with slivers of memory making it through. Images of skin on skin, Kiba's hands roaming over her body, her legs entwined with his, and that final rush of ecstasy._

_They woke up an hour or so later and realised that Lee and Naruto were still waiting for them. They threw on their clothes and rushed out to meet them. When they finally raced into the lobby they could tell Lee didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, however the smirk on Naruto's face indicated he'd noticed something. They left the hotel and headed back to the Hyuuga house. However, when they reached it they discovered it was locked, and Hinata had left the house without her key. Kiba had told her she could stay at his house for the night when Naruto pointed out that his parents wouldn't be happy to find a girl in the house in the morning. Completely ignoring Lee's offer of a room, Hinata agreed to go back to Naruto's house. When it came to heading in different directions Naruto attempted to stop Lee from taking pictures with his phone while Kiba and Hinata kissed goodbye with more passion than Naruto had ever seen anyone display in his life. They all split up and headed off in their own directions, while Naruto teased Hinata the whole way back about doing IT with Kiba._

**********

"There's something I should tell you."

Hinata turned her head to look at him, wondering why he wouldn't look at her. Maybe he was repulsed by what they'd done. Hinata tried not to cry at the thought.

"I've liked you for so long Hinata, longer than even Sakura suspects, and I'm really sorry for dragging you into this. I pressured you into agreeing to marrying me and I knew you were too nice to say no, but I don't think I would have asked you if I wasn't drunk."

Noticing the hurt look on Hinata's face, Kiba hastened to explain what he meant.

"No, no!! That's not what I meant! I didn't mean I didn't want to ask you. I meant that if I was sober I would've realised there was no way someone as amazing as you would want to be with me. Besides, I know you're head over heels for Naruto. It's just that......I think I'm in love with you."

Hinata tried to cover her shock. She'd never thought anyone would notice her, let alone love her. She stayed quiet and tried to sort through things in her head, thinking back to the night before and how she'd felt. She realised that when she was with Kiba, thoughts of anyone else flew out of her mind. The only person she thought about was him. She'd never noticed before but, it was like, his presence demanded so much of her attention there was no room for anyone else. She remembered trusting him so completely, not because she felt she had to, because it felt right. She didn't feel embarrassed when she was with him, she felt special, like she was the most beautiful person in the world. She remembered the absolute faith she'd had in him the previous night when he'd told her he'd stop if she wanted, and she knew she felt it again. Somewhere along her train of thought, she realised,

"I'm falling in love with you too."

She could see the shock on his face, and knew the expression was on her face too. She didn't know how she knew it, she just did. Hinata couldn't explain it. Saying it and feeling it seemed as natural as saying the sky was up, and Lee had an obsession with green spandex. She heard herself continuing to talk.

"I-I t-t-think---"

She stopped, took a deep breath and looked into Kiba's stunned face.

"I think I'd like to try staying married, i-if that's okay with you?"

Kiba kissed her so forcefully that waves of heat washed over Hinata as she remembered where this could lead them.

"I'd really like that too."

She smiled and kissed him again. Eventually they had to stop when they remembered where they were. After discussing it and deciding that they should probably keep their relationship, and its extent, to themselves for awhile they finally left the boys locker room. Hinata was momentarily grossed out when a pair of boxers landed on her head while Kiba removed the door jamb. Making sure there was nobody patrolling the halls, they decided to leave early seeing as their class was nearly finished now anyway. Grabbing each others hands, and ducking under classroom windows, they ran out the school doors and into freedom.

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The bell rang for the end of the day and a flood of students poured out of the school. Neji was asking the others if any of them had seen Hinata. Shino was just telling him he hadn't when he felt a hand on the back of his collar, hauling him away from the group.

"You'd better have a good explanation Bug-Boy!"

Shino stared at the threatening figure of Temari and wondered how good his chances were of making a break for it.

"And don't even think of trying to run, because I know where you live."

Apparently his chances weren't all that good.

"You made me steal a fan from that market last night! How could you do that?!"

"I didn't make you do anything. I gave you an opportunity, but you made the decision to steal based on your own greed."

Temari fumed.

"I was drunk, impressionable, stupid! And you were egging me on!"

Seeing that Shino was about to deny this, she cut him off.

"Oh, it was done very subtly, but you did do it."

Shino shrugged, the image of apathy, and Temari stormed off. Shino wandered back to the others. They all knew better than to bother asking what it had been about.

"So did everyone have a wondrous time at the party last night?!!"

"You should know Lee, you were there."

Lee sighed and shook his head.

"But regretfully, I truly do not remember the joyous occasion. I think some unyouthful person must have spiked my drink!"

As one, everybody around Lee rolled their eyes. It was his excuse after every party, he just didn't want to admit he couldn't drink. Naruto grinned to himself. He didn't think Hinata and Kiba would be shedding tears over Lee's lost memory.

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For some reason I find it harder to write non-yaoi lemons, but I'm determined to write one eventually! Please review and let me know what you think!!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I think it's safe to say I don't own Naruto.

Warning: boyxboy

A/N: I have some big exams coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on this fic. But fear not my youthful companions!! I'm going to upload this chapter AND the next one now instead of trying to post it next week! I hope you enjoy them!!

**Tempt Me**

Naruto didn't get a chance to talk to Hinata until the next day. Their Social Studies class was cancelled, so they decided to sit outside in the sun while they waited for their next class. They were lying out on the grass when Naruto decided to break the silence.

"So, how has your day been so far Mrs. Inuzuka?"

Hinata shot upright and turned to stare at Naruto with big, wide eyes. Naruto sat up too, laughing at her horrified expression.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone."

A look of relief washed over Hinata's face.

"You are going to tell me what happened, and what's going on with the two of you aren't you?"

Hinata blushed and nodded. She started pulling blades of grass out of the ground, twisting them in her hands, as she started talking.

"W-We talked yesterday, and w-we decided to try staying married."

Naruto looked surprised, and Hinata blushed.

"W-We really do like each other. I don't know h-how it happened though."

Naruto snorted.

"Oh come on Hinata, Kiba's loved you for years! That's why I wasn't surprised he proposed, but I was shocked you said yes!"

Hinata tore up some more leaves, and turned a deeper pink.

"I-I don't know....."

She paused and looked up at Naruto.

"D-Did something ever just feel really right, and you couldn't explain it? That's how I f-feel about Kiba."

Naruto blushed, thinking about Sasuke. He tried to ignore his heated face and, instead, looked at Hinata's. If he was honest, he'd been worried that Kiba was going to get hurt from all this. But, looking at the smile on Hinata's face when she talked about him, he knew there was nothing to worry about.

"We are t-trying to keep it a s-secret though. So c-could you not tell anyone?"

Naruto pinkie-promised with her to keep their secret. After Naruto teased her a little more about being Mrs. Inuzuka, Hinata asked him if he'd done anything weird or embarrassing at the party.

"Hmm, well I made out with Sasuke."

Naruto wondered if Kiba would kill him if he tried performing CPR on his wife. Because, from the expression on Hinata's face, she was probably going to need it. After a few minutes spent calling her name and waving his hand in front of her face, Hinata finally snapped out of it. Naruto ignored the shocked expression on her face.

"Don't try and act all innocent with me Hinata. I know what you did with Kiba in that hotel room."

At this point Hinata's face was on fire, but she kept badgering Naruto until he told her everything. When he told her about kissing him the day before she started squealing. He stared at her in shock as she stuttered about her Inner-Yaoi-Fangirl (IYF). It was now her turn to pinkie-promise to keep his secret, which she did full-heartedly.

"S-So, are you going t-to be an o-open couple? Will p-people know?"

Naruto frowned. They hadn't really talked about it, but he thought they might be keeping it to themselves for awhile. Hinata nodded understandingly. The bell rang for their next classes, so they made their way back into the school.

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The rest of the day went smoothly, and even the show rehearsals hadn't gone that bad! Kakashi told them they were all after getting much better, to which most of the Sins looked guilty. He also asked some of them to stay behind and help put away the props, (the props group had mysteriously disappeared when Gai-sensei had told them he wanted to give them a talk). Ino waved at Hinata and Sakura as they left and, with a sigh, headed up onto the stage to help out. After all it wasn't like she had anything better to do. She was trying to drag an extremely heavy floor lamp off stage, when she backed into somebody. Luckily managing to catch the lamp and set it upright, she turned to yell at the other person to watch where they were going. Her words froze though when she realised the other person was Shikamaru. She muttered sorry, and tried to move past him.

Ino was, however, halted in her path when a hand grabbed her arm. She reluctantly turned back around to face Shikamaru.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"What do you mean, 'what's going on?' Nothing's going on."

"Come on Ino, you've been avoiding me since the party. What did I do wrong?"

Ino shook her head, determined not to let him see her blush.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You're just imagining things."

Shikamaru continued to stare at her for another moment or two, before forcing himself to ask.

"Is it because of the hug? You know when you were upset about your diet, and the cake.........and I think something to do with cats?"

Ino hung her head and Shikamaru felt her stiffen. He panicked a little, thinking she might have thought he was trying to make a move on her or something.

"Because I was just trying to get you to stop crying, that's all it was I swear. You don't have to worry about me trying it on with you or anything."

Ino kept her head down, but now she could feel tears welling up. She should've known he wouldn't be interested in her! How could she have been so stupid. She'd spent all of yesterday and today hoping he'd comforted her at the party because he liked her. She felt angry with herself and, unwilling to project inwards, she directed her anger at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru was startled when she wrenched her arm from his grip, and even more so when he noticed she was sneering at him.

"You think I care about that? Seriously, don't make me laugh! The only reason I've been avoiding you is because I didn't want you thinking you stood a chance with me, just because I'd hugged you when I was drunk. Ha! Do you really think I could like a lazy bum like you?!"

Shikamaru flinched as if he'd been struck, he turned away as she stormed past him. Their pride not letting them see the hurt on each others faces.

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Neji had so far managed to successfully avoid being alone with Gaara all day. One memorable occasion had him volunteering to do extra laps with Lee in the gym after class, causing Gai-sensei to burst into floods of 'youthful' tears. Being the class before lunch, Gai kept him doing laps for an extra twenty minutes. When Gai had finished this torture, Neji ran to the locker room and headed for the showers. He had the place to himself as Lee had decided to stay with Gai-sensei and do laps for the whole of lunch. Neji shook his head as he dressed after his shower, Freak. He had just grabbed his bag, figuring he could grab a quick lunch before his next class, when he turned to see the one person he'd spent the day avoiding.

Gaara was leaning against the lockers across from him with his arms crossed. Neji made as if to leave, and Gaara's eyes dared him to. Admitting defeat, Neji dropped his bag and leaned back against his locker. They stared at each other in oppressive silence for awhile. Neji thought it would go on forever, when Gaara finally broke the ice.

"Much as I'm loath to admit that it even happened, we should probably talk about The Incident."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, so you don't remember jerking me off on your parents' dining room table?"

Neji glared at him.

"I don't know why you think we need to talk about it. I was perfectly happy pretending it never happened."

"I guess I'm just a bigger man than you."

"I suppose I should be flattered. You must have taken a look to know that for sure."

Gaara resolutely ignored Neji's quirked eyebrow and smirk. He would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that, for some insane and indefinable reason, he had looked.

"Look, I just wanted to know why you did what you did that night."

Neji shrugged.

"I was really drunk, then you started taunting me, and I just wanted to wipe the smirk off your face."

Gaara couldn't deny that he'd certainly done that. When Neji asked him why he'd been so intent on riling him up, he mimicked the others' shrug.

"I was drunk too if you remember. It seemed like a really good idea at the time."

He wasn't going to tell him the truth, that there had been a pact between all of them playing the Sins....................Damn Shino and his 'Greatest Idea Ever'. He hesitated before he continued on.

"Hey, and eh, I'm sorry for some of the things I said to you. You know about you being a fairy and shit."

"You only spoke the truth, I can't hold that against you. Besides, you are, like, sooooooo way too cute for me to hold a grudge against!"

Gaara smirked as Neji struck an exaggerated girly pose. Neji laughed and slapped his shoulder after he slung his bag onto his.

"Let's agree that it was a drunken mistake and leave it at that."

Gaara nodded in relief as he followed Neji out of the locker room. However, the feeling of unease settling over him told him it was going to be easier said than done.

----------------------------------------------------

Neji and Hinata made their way home together at the end of the day. Neji was busy quizzing Hinata on where she had disappeared to at the end of school the day before. Hinata told him she'd just felt like going for a walk before she went home and spent the night studying. Neji seemed to accept the answer, but asked her why she hadn't acknowledged him when he'd knocked on her bedroom door when he'd gotten home. She told him she simply hadn't heard him over the music she'd been listening to.

Hinata really hoped Neji would stop pushing her on the subject. She was afraid that, if he kept on questioning her, she'd let slip that she hadn't exactly been on her own in the room. She stifled a laugh when she recalled the look on Kiba's face when he'd heard Neji at her door, and then when he had attempted to jump out her window for safety purposes. Thankfully, he'd halted these suicidal thoughts when Hinata had……convinced him to stay. Hinata blushed and smiled to herself, looking forward to calling him as soon as she could escape up to her room.

Meanwhile, with Hinata lost in her thoughts, Neji was free to sift through his own. He thought back to his conversation with Gaara and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. He wouldn't admit it to anyone other than himself, even under pain of death, that he thought Gaara was hot. I mean, he may look it, but he wasn't actually blind. He could see how attractive the easily-enraged redhead was. And if he was completely honest with himself, he didn't regret the night of the party at all. The only thing he regretted was the fact that Gaara clearly wanted no repeat of the incident. Oh well, he could learn to live with it.

------------------------------------------------

Sasuke walked home alongside Naruto and Sakura, trying to tune out their inane chattering. At the moment the subject was what they thought had happened between Shikamaru and Ino during the day. At the start of the day they were fine and then at some point, nobody was sure when, they had just started ignoring each other. Sakura told Naruto she was sure she'd heard Ino crying in the girl's bathrooms at lunch. Their conversation, thankfully in Sasuke's opinion, ended when they reached Sakura's house. She and Naruto waved and yelled their goodbyes until she closed the door behind them.

Sasuke and Naruto continued on their way in silence. When he was sure they had passed Sakura's house, Sasuke reached out and entwined Naruto's hand with his own. He smiled when he saw the slight blush dusting Naruto's cheeks. At ease again, Naruto restarted his pointless ramblings. However Sasuke discovered that, as long as they were only directed at _him_, he didn't really mind Naruto's meandering conversations.

--------------------------------------------

The journey home seemed even more tedious than usual, because today Kankuro wouldn't stop complaining about being paired with Lee for the play. As per usual, while Kankuro whined, Temari talked over him about something completely unrelated. Gaara wondered if telling her to shut up would make any difference. That is if he could even get a word in edgeways. At the moment she was wondering aloud if she stood a chance with Shikamaru, now that he seemed to be fighting with Ino she had no competition. Gaara pointed out that Ino and Shikamaru were only friends, Ino had never been competition. Temari snorted and told him that was all he knew. Kankuro, just joining the conversation, snickered and made a comment that appeared to infuriate Temari. That is, if the fact that she was pummelling the crap out of him was any indication.

Gaara sighed and continued walking without them. He was becoming a little infuriated himself. He'd thought that talking to Neji would get The Incident out of his system. Instead it had made no difference whatsoever, it even made it a little worse. Now there were different thoughts parading themselves mockingly around his head. He was surprised that Neji had agreed to forget about it so easily, though he chalked that up to his own vanity. He started to wonder if the alcohol was the only reason…………He shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. He really needed to stop thinking about the Hyuuga and his stupid hair, and his freaky pale eyes, and how his hands………Damnit! He was doing it again. It really was going to be easier said than done.

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Thank you for continuing to read this! Feel free to also continue reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: sigh…only in my dreams…

Warning: boyxboy, YAOI present!! Ah, sweet boy luvin'

A/N: Two things before we begin. First, if Neji appears a little out of character, he's just very protective of Hinata. Also, it may seem like I dislike him, but I really love Sai! He's one of my favourite characters in the series. He just seems perfect for this type of part!

**Tempt Me**

Wednesday morning dawned and, like every other morning, everyone piled into their respective classrooms for another day in Hell. However, by the end of her first class, Hinata was beginning to feel a bit paranoid. It seemed like everybody was whispering, and would stop as soon as she came into the room. She mentioned as much to Sakura, but she just told her she was imaging it. Choosing to believe her, Hinata ignored the whispers and went on with her day as usual.

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Hinata wasn't the only one having a tough morning. One only had to sense the air of menace around him, to realise that trying to talk to Gaara no Sabaku that morning was a bad idea. Gaara was in an extremely bad mood. He'd gotten less sleep than usual last night and, when he did fall asleep, his dreams were haunted by long hair and soft hands. He even found himself staring at the object of his annoyance, for no reason, during his first class. He knew if it kept up much longer he was going to snap.

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Naruto was sure that he was having, by far, the best Wednesday morning. At the start of his first class Sasuke had come in and handed Asuma-sensei a note from the principal, saying that Jiraiya-sama wanted to see Naruto Uzumaki immediately. They left the classroom and, about two minutes later, Naruto had found himself sitting on the sinks in the boy's bathroom with his legs wrapped around the impatient Uchiha's waist. Naruto bit Sasuke's bottom lip as he felt the raven's hands slide underneath his shirt. Nails lightly grazed his nipples and the blonde groaned into his partners mouth. Sasuke slid his tongue into Naruto's mouth, exploring every part of the cavern, until his tongue brushed against Naruto's. A fierce battle for dominance commenced, although Naruto knew he'd eventually lose, it was worth it.

Knowing that Sasuke would be distracted, he moved his hand stealthily lower and lower down the raven's body. However, just before he could reach his destination, he felt Sasuke smirk against his lips. He pulled back, still smirking at Naruto's dazed expression. He leaned back in and whispered huskily in his ear.

"Ah, now I know what you want Naruto."

Naruto blushed a light crimson colour when Sasuke pulled away, and he could clearly see the lust clouding his eyes. The next thing he knew he was practically lying down on the sinks and his pants were unzipped. He watched as Sasuke leaned down and flicked his tongue across the tip of his cock. He twitched and he saw Sasuke's ever present smirk grow. Sasuke licked the underside from base to tip, his eyes never leaving Naruto's, watching the pleasure wash across his face.

He took the tip into his mouth and started to tease the head with his tongue. He heard Naruto moan his name and, deciding to stop toying with him, he took as much of him into his mouth as possible. He began to suck Naruto's cock, lightly scrapping him with his teeth. Naruto moaned again. He looked down at the bobbing head and buried one of his hands in the raven hair. He threw his own head back and cried out Sasuke's name again. When Sasuke heard the way Naruto was saying his name, he groaned as well. He knew, without a doubt, that when he was finished with Naruto he was going to have to take care of himself as well. He felt the hand in his hair tighten as Naruto's hips began to buck. He used his hands to hold the blondes hips down as he sucked harder. He dragged his teeth across the tip one more time and he heard Naruto cry out. He swallowed all that Naruto spent, and when he was finished he looked up at the other boy and licked lips.

Naruto was leaning back against the wall, a look of total satisfaction on his face. He leaned forward and pulled Sasuke towards him, crushing their mouths together. Sasuke let himself go along with the kiss, until he remembered where they were. He broke apart from Naruto and reminded him that he had to get back to class. Panicking when he realised how long they'd been in the bathroom, Naruto hurriedly re-zipped his pants and splashed water on his face. Sasuke told him to go out first, and that he'd see him later. After one more quick chaste kiss, Naruto strolled out of the bathroom whistling. When he was sure the door had swung closed behind him, Sasuke let out a shaky breath and leaned back against the cool tiles of the wall. After a glance at his watch assured him he had time, he decided to do what he had to make himself presentable for his next class.

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By the time they walked into their fourth class Hinata knew she wasn't imagining it anymore. She sat down in her usual place and started talking to Kiba, who was making sneakily inappropriate comments about what they could be doing, while trying to ignore the whispers around her. Naruto yelled at Kiba to come over to where he was. Kiba grinned at Hinata and went over to the other side of the classroom. Hinata heard someone say that Kurenai-sensei wasn't in, so she pulled out some homework and started to work on it. She'd only been doing this for a moment when someone stood in front of her desk.

"So Hinata, do you charge by the hour or the night?"

Hinata looked up, confused, to see the smug face of Sai looking down at her. There were snickers from the people standing around him.

"I-I'm sorry, I d-don't know what you're t-talking about."

Sai smirked and leaned down until he was face to face with her.

"Aw, don't try to hide it Hinata. Everyone here knows you put out in hotel rooms."

Hinata blushed, totally confused by what he was saying. Then she paled as she realised what he was talking about. Somebody had obviously seen her leave the hotel room the night she and Kiba had……gotten married. The only thing she was grateful for was the fact that nobody seemed to know that Kiba had the one with her. At least he wasn't being dragged into this.

"C'mon Hinata, how much for a night? I bet I could make you scream."

"How? Are you going to show her how tiny your cock is?"

Sai looked up at the interruption.

"What's wrong Kiba? You want a go of the school's new bike too?"

Hinata could feel Kiba shaking with rage as he stood beside her. She silently willed him not to do anything, knowing he'd be the one that got in trouble. Almost as if he could read her mind, Naruto materialised at Kiba's side.

"Come on man, scum like him aren't worth the hassle."

"Oh I'm sure Hinata thinks I'm worth the hassle……that is if I paid her enough."

So fast that the people who blinked missed it, Kiba flung Sai against the wall and had him pinned there by his collar. He growled at him.

"You shut the fuck up about Hinata. What the hell did she ever do to you?!"

"Nothing yet, but hopefully that'll change."

Kiba slammed him against the wall again.

"I thought I told you to shut up about her?"

By this time a crowd had gathered. Naruto was standing beside Kiba trying to calm him down, afraid he might do or say something he'd regret later. Hinata was standing at Naruto's side, telling Kiba it didn't matter. He ignored both of them.

"So, are you going to leave Hinata alone?"

"Why? Just so you can get there first? I don't think so."

The bloodlust in Kiba's eyes would have lesser men, or sane men, pissing their pants then and there. However, Sai just continued to smirk at him.

"Do I have to repeat myself? Leave. Her. Alone!"

"It's okay Kiba. I'll let you have her after I'm done with her, if you don't mind sloppy seconds that is."

"THAT'S MY WIFE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!"

Silence blanketed the room after his outburst. Not even Sai seemed to have a comeback for that one. Naruto groaned and covered his face with his hands, Hinata stood beside him in shock. Realising what he'd just done, Kiba let go of Sai and stepped back. He turned to look at Hinata and she could see the horror on his face. She saw it change to a pleading, apologetic one and she knew she couldn't be mad at him. He'd just been standing up for her.

Deciding that she was finally going to take her turn to stand up for Kiba, she took the ring out of her uniform's shirt pocket and placed it on her left ring finger. Kiba's smile felt like it lit her up from the inside. Copying her, he took out his ring, and placed it on his own finger. After clasping her hand with his own, he turned to the class, glaring at them all in turn, and told them that if any of them hurt Hinata they'd have him to deal with. Hinata was so caught up in the moment that she missed exactly what Sai said. Whatever it was had Kiba sinking his fist into the other boy's nose so hard people were afraid he'd broken it.

Gai-sensei happened to be passing and witnessed the entire display. Hollering something about the unyouthfulness of both the boys, he ordered them to the principal's office. Well first Sai had to go to the nurse's office THEN to see the principal! Hinata refused to let go of Kiba's hand, insisting that she go with him to help him explain. The bizarre entourage left a deafening silence in their wake.

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Everyone piled out of the classroom as the bell rang, babbling endlessly about the events of the previous class. Naruto thought he could manage a stealthy escape, but the hard clamping of an enraged siblings hand on his shoulder quickly wiped away that theory. He turned, trying to blind his captor with a 1000watt smile of desperation. Unfortunately Neji was having none of it.

"Heh. What can I do for you Neji?"

"Naruto, could you explain to me why, when the rest of us were all frozen in varying degrees of shock over The Announcement, you didn't seem the slightest bit surprised?"

"Just taking it in my stride! Obviously I'm not that easy to shock!"

Knowing his uncalled for use of exclamation marks had given him away, he wasn't really surprised when the grip on his shoulder tightened.

"How about telling me the truth? You knew didn't you? You knew what was going on between Hinata and Kiba!"

After another five or so minutes of this, Naruto cracked. He nodded his head and flinched, waiting for the blow to land. He opened his eyes when he felt himself being released. He wondered where Neji was storming off to in a hurry. He panicked and chased after him though when he realised he was headed in the direction of the principal's office.

---------------------------------------------

Kiba and Hinata waited outside the principal's office while Sai was inside telling his side of the story. Their only hope was that Jiraiya-sama disliked Sai as much as the rest of the school, so he might be more inclined to go easier on Kiba. Kiba and Hinata sat in silence, the only sound being the secretary going off for coffee. This was probably a good thing considering what happened next. The silent sanctity of the educational office was broken by Hurricane Hyuuga, intent on the destruction of Inuzuka Island.

Without any warning or chance to retaliate, Kiba was hauled out of his seat by his shirt collar. He looked up to see pale eyes trying to burn a hole through his head, and he returned the favour. Naruto appeared out of nowhere and started yelling at Neji to leave Kiba go. Kiba also started shouting this, while Neji yelled back at Naruto to mind his own business. The three of them kept this up for quite a while. Neji shouting at Kiba for answers, Kiba yelling back at him to stay out of it, and Naruto screaming random profanities at Neji for ignoring him. Inevitably they all had to pause for breath at some point, which is when they heard:

"Nii-san, put Kiba down."

All three turned in shock to stare at the girl they had forgotten was there.

"I'll put him down when I've gotten ans--"

"No nii-san, put him down now."

Neji had now moved beyond shocked and towards some alternate galaxy of totally freaked out. Staring at Hinata's resolute face he wondered if he should bring up his body-snatching theory. He suddenly snapped himself out of it and dropped Kiba. This seemed to break everyone out of their trance, including Hinata who now started to turn a very unflattering shade of burnt sunset. Kiba picked himself off of the ground and subtly placed himself in front of Hinata. Neji was surprised when he noticed, but he hid it well. He decided it might be a better idea if he continued his questioning in a slightly calmer way.

Naruto glanced from Neji to Kiba, ready to jump in if a brawl broke out at any point. Neji sighed.

"Okay so, why don't you explain to me just what the hell is going on?"

Hinata moved out from behind Kiba and stood in front of Neji.

"K-Kiba and I are married."

"I think I've grasped that already Hinata, but how? When did it happen?"

"A-At our l-last party. You see we were d-drunk--"

Naruto and Kiba both groaned as Neji exploded.

"YOU WERE DRUNK????!!!! HOW THE FUCK WERE YOU DRUNK?! YOU DON'T EVEN FUCKING DRINK! DID THAT BASTARD DO SOMETHING???"

Kiba and Naruto stared on in jaw-dropped shock at the words coming out of the usually refined Hyuuga's mouth. Hinata just looked like she was going to expire on the spot.

"B-But it's okay nii-san, we l-love each other and w-want to stay m-married."

Realising that Hinata might actually die if he kept shouting at his current volume, he tried to take it down a notch. He took a deep breath and counted to ten.

"Okay, Mom and Dad don't now about this yet so there's still time to fix it."

"But nii-san--"

"There has to be some way to end the marriage without them finding out."

Now Kiba looked infuriated.

"Hey, you can't just decide to break something just because you don't like it!"

Neji had a calm, collected look on his face.

"I'm not trying to break something. I'm going to fix it."

Naruto started moving closer, inch by inch, wanting to be prepared if Kiba launched himself at the other boy.

"I know what we can do, we can have the marriage annulled. That way this travesty can be done with and our parents need never know."

Taking in the fully enraged expression on Kiba's face, Naruto moved to stand between him and Neji.

"B-But nii-san, you can only h-have a marriage a-annulled if the couple haven't had s-sex."

Suddenly Naruto was taking a giant leap backwards as a horrified expression settled on Kiba's face. Correctly judging the silence pervading the room to be the calm before the storm, Naruto braced himself.

"Hinata, what could you possibly mean by that?"

"T-That it's not p-possible for the marriage to be a-annulled."

"Oh, I see……WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???? DO YOU ACTUALLY MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU HAD SEX WITH THE DOG-BOY??? ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING???"

"I-I already told you we were d-drunk."

Kiba was about to start crying, wondering if it could be considered domestic violence if he gagged her.

"YOU HAD SEX WITH HIM WHEN YOU WERE DRUNK??? WHAT THE FUCK----!!!! HE'S NOT EVEN GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? HE'S NOT EVEN---"

The slap reverberated around the room. Naruto was trying to figure out if he'd be considered a bad friend if he fled the room. As much as he wanted to though, he couldn't make his eyes move away from the red mark on Neji's face. Kiba couldn't pull his eyes away from Hinata's form, shaking from the boldness of what she had done.

Neji stared at her. Unable to believe that she'd stood up to him like that. All her life, whenever she'd wanted something and Neji didn't agree with it, he could always convince her to give it up. However, it looked like he was finally going to fail.

"Y-You don't understand nii-san. I-I l-love him and I won't l-let you take him away from m-me!"

At this point she started to cry. She turned and ran back to Kiba, clinging onto him. Kiba glared momentarily at Neji before focusing all his attention on Hinata. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered calming words of consolation to her. Watching as Kiba calmed her down, Neji realised he was disgusted with himself. Naruto stopped beside him.

"Do you get it now?"

Neji looked at him.

"Just because you don't think something's right doesn't make it true. People love and live differently. That's what makes life so interesting. If one person could dictate everyone's choices, life would be really boring."

"When did you get so wise?"

Naruto snorted.

"Probably the same time you got stupid."

Neji shook his head and walked over to Hinata and Kiba.

"I'm sorry."

Hinata turned to face him, startled. As far as she could remember Neji had never apologized to her before. He used to say there was no reason to apologize if you were always right.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you were trying to explain. After you've talked to the principal, maybe we could try again?"

Hinata dived at him, hugging him to within an inch of his life.

"I'd like that very much nii-san."

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Sakura and Ino were wandering through the hall on the way to the lunch room, gossiping about what had happened earlier.

"Do you think it's true? Do you think they're really married?"

"I don't know, but it seems like a pretty weird thing to lie about doesn't it?"

"I suppose. God, I guess it must be true then! I can't believe they're married!"

"I know! I wonder when it happened?"

"I'm just wondering if Hinata knows she's going to be grilled mercilessly about the whole thing!"

The two girls laughed as they walked through the lunch room doors.

"Uh Ino, could I talk to you for a minute?"

Ino turned to see Shikamaru leaning against the wall beside the door. Before she had a chance to say anything, Sakura walked off waving goodbye. Ino sighed and turned to Shikamaru.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Shikamaru looked around for a moment, then said they should go somewhere quieter. Ino agreed and told him to lead the way. He led the way to the theatre, closing the door behind them.

"Why here exactly?"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"It's close by and, anyway, we have rehearsals after lunch."

"I would actually like to have lunch though!"

"I thought you were on a diet?"

"That doesn't mean I can't eat! Or are you just trying to tell me I'm fat?!"

Shikamaru took deep breaths and reminded himself he wasn't here to kill her. He came back from his calm place to see Ino turning to leave.

"Wait!"

She turned back around and crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for what he wanted to say.

"Sorry."

Her eyes widened as she wondered what he was apologizing for.

"I'm sorry because I'm not, sorry that is."

Confusion must have been apparent because he explained further.

"The other night at the party. I'm not sorry because I didn't do anything wrong. So we hugged, big deal! It's not like I took advantage of you or anything."

Ino shrugged, knowing what he said was true. It wasn't like anything bad had happened! She'd just let her feelings get in the way. She was so busy trying to word her own apology that she almost missed it.

"Well it's not like I didn't want to or anything but, what with you being drunk and all, I figured that would be a bad thing."

Ino stared at him in shock as Shikamaru gave her a lazy smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to say anything back to me. Maybe you could just take some time to think about it and then eventually tell me what you decide."

Ino nodded absentmindedly as he walked past her and out of the theatre. She stared at the door as it shut behind him, almost sure she heard him mutter something about feelings being 'so troublesome'.

---------------------------------------------

The corridors were deserted as Neji made his way to the drama hall after the last class of the day. His last sensei had held him back for a few minutes to talk about his class project, and now he was trying to ensure he'd be late by strolling as slowly as possible to the hall. He was so absorbed in doing nothing that he almost missed the other boy leaning against the wall up ahead.

"What, no hello?"

Neji jerked to a halt, turning to look at the owner of the voice. He smirked as he realised the red-head seemed a little more on edge than usual……if that was even possible. He stopped in front of him.

"So why aren't you at rehearsals?"

"None of your business. And anyway, I could ask you the same question."

"Sensei needed to talk to me. I have a valid excuse."

Gaara growled.

"What, are we having a bad day?"

Gaara struggled to keep his temper in check at the mocking tone in Neji's voice. He had been having a bad day and the last thing he needed was the cause of his bad day mocking him. He'd spent the day trying to get/keep thoughts of Neji out of his head. The whole point of ditching drama had been to avoid the Hyuuga, and now even that'd backfired! The universe was conspiring against him and he had no idea what he'd done to deserve it.

Neji frowned as he watched conflicting expressions flash across Gaara's face. He decided that perhaps he should continue on his way before Gaara actually did snap.

"Well, as scintillating as this conversation has been, I'm going to the theatre before Kakashi-sensei sends out a search party."

Gaara couldn't decide if he had snapped or just given up, but when Neji turned to leave all he knew was he wasn't letting him go without taking some of his frustration out on him.

Neji was turning to leave when a pair of hands reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. The next thing he knew, he was being pulled against another body.

"What the he--"

His exclamation was cut off as another mouth crushed against his own. Neji's eyes widened in shock when he realised Gaara was kissing him, very forcibly he might add. The hands fisting the front of his shirt kept him anchored where he was. His brain tried to process exactly what was happening but, when he felt Gaara's tongue sliding across his lips, he decided he didn't care. He parted his lips and welcomed Gaara into his mouth, slipping his own tongue along the other's and into his mouth. He stiffened, in more ways than one, when he heard Gaara groan. He pressed himself closer to Gaara, trapping him against the wall. When Neji bit Gaara's lip the red-head tightened his grip on the taller boy's chest, undoubtedly leaving his mark again. Neji let his hand take the familiar journey down Gaara's body.

However, when he reached his waistband, he felt Gaara freeze up. The next thing he knew he was being shoved away at breakneck speed. He stared in surprise at Gaara, completely confused as to what was going on. Gaara was leaning against the wall, trying to catch his breath, and treating Neji to the most violent glare he'd ever seen. Neji moved towards him.

"Stay the fuck away from me."

The look of murder in his eyes halted Neji in his tracks. All he could do was watch in utter confusion as Gaara stormed away from him.

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Gaara strode out of the building, not caring if he was caught. He couldn't believe he'd done something so stupid. He spent all day telling himself to ignore Neji and then what did he do when he met him? Oh, just dragged him against him and shoved his tongue down his throat. He felt like hurting something small and defenceless, or maybe Kankuro. He continued to rage at himself the whole way home, finally deciding that no matter what he couldn't let **That **happen again.

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Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Hopefully normal service will resume shortly!!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Strangely enough I still don't own Naruto!

A/N: Yaaaay, I'm back!! Sorry for the delay but I'm halfway through my exams and I finally have time to post this! I hope it lives up to the wait because _finally the secret is out!!_ I think this is so far my favourite chapter to write. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!!!

**Tempt Me  
**

On Thursday morning the first thing Kakashi's class saw was the notice on the front door of the school, telling them that they were so far behind they needed to spend the whole of the next two days preparing for the play. They cheered at first, delighted to be missing two whole days of school. Then they realised that it meant spending two straight days with Kakashi-sensei acting like prats………they stopped cheering.

They all trudged towards the theatre, now feeling slightly depressed. On entry Kakashi waved at them to split up into their pairs and start working. The morning passed quickly and quietly. Kakashi found this very suspicious and took a closer look at his students.

Shino and Temari seemed to be doing well, they were managing to make their way through the script tolerably well. Temari _did _seem a little off, but it was nothing too serious. Gaara and Neji seemed a little uncomfortable with each other, especially Gaara. The red-head was doing everything in his power to avoid Neji's line of sight, then glared when he did meet it. He thought it was ridiculous for them to be uncomfortable with their Sin, when Sasuke and Naruto were the two with the Sin of Lust. Which, he might add they were pulling off very well, considering they'd been loath to even enter each others personal space a couple of days ago. At the moment Sasuke was nuzzling Naruto's neck, while the blond was winding his hands through the raven's hair. He could see Sakura fighting a nose bleed.

The fan-girl in question was going over her lines with Shikamaru. Kakashi did a double-take. They'd been rehearsing for two hours now and Shikamaru was still _awake_?! Not only that but he looked a little edgy, and was actually reading through his lines with Sakura. Kakashi looked away and hoped he wasn't going crazy. Kiba and Hinata weren't even pretending to be practicing their lines, just discreetly making out in one of the rows. Kakashi rolled his eyes and continued looking around. Ino and Choji were also getting along okay, by tomorrow they might actually be ready. Lee and Kankuro had made great progress! Well, Lee wasn't bleeding and Kakashi chose to take that as a good sign.

A bell went off in the distance and Kakashi told them to go for lunch. When they came back they'd be going up on the stage in pairs to practice their scenes. They groaned and headed to the cafeteria. Everyone got their food and collapsed at the same table, complaining about having another two hours of the same thing after lunch. Nothing very interesting happened at lunch, (well aside from when Sasuke started sliding his hand up Naruto's leg until the blond jumped up and said he needed to go get something from his locker. Hinata sat on Kiba's lap blushing. Temari was busy wondering why exactly Shino and Kankuro were spending so much time together……that is until she found them making out in the corridor. And Gaara tried to ignore the fact that Neji wouldn't stop staring at him. But aside from that, lunch was really boring). So when this boring hour was up they marched back into the theatre.

They had all gone back to the places they'd been before lunch when Kakashi stood at the front of the stage and cleared his throat. They tuned in, barely, to see what he wanted.

"While discussing some things at lunch with the other sensei, it was brought to my attention--forcefully--that something I did may have been somewhat unethical."

"Isn't everything you do unethical?"

Kakashi chose to ignore the anonymous heckler.

"If you remember, before you left school last Friday, I called the people playing Sins back so I could talk to them about something."

The looks of horror, the shaking of heads, and the wildly negative gesturing went wilfully unnoticed by Kakashi.

"I told them that in order for them to practice properly, they should try to make their partners commit the pertinent Sin."

Silence.

"What exactly does that mean?"

Not entirely sure who asked, Kakashi decided to generalise his answer.

"For instance Shino might have tried to get Temari to take something she wanted. Gaara could have gotten Neji to get really angry about something. Maybe Choji made Ino eat something she shouldn't have."

Kakashi grinned sheepishly (they assumed) at his class.

"Well, now that that's over, let's get back to rehearsing."

Shuffling pages were heard as everyone went back to what they were doing, waiting for the shock to fade.

After a few minutes Naruto looked up from his script to see Sasuke studiously avoiding his eyes. Naruto felt a sick feeling settle in the bottom of his stomach. He thought back over the last couple of days and began to feel slightly angry too.

"He was telling the truth wasn't he."

Sasuke didn't want to look up, he knew what he'd see and he really didn't want to. However, after a moment or two of silence, he had to look up. The expression of betrayal on Naruto's face knocked the air out of his lungs. He made as if to move towards him but was stopped by a growl.

"Don't touch me."

Naruto's fists were clenched at his sides.

"Was it just some joke? Something you could hold over me later? You must have had some laugh over it."

Sasuke felt worse with every word that came out of the blonde's mouth.

"That's not true! It wasn't--"

"Shut up. Like I need to hear more lies."

Before Sasuke could say anything else, Naruto grabbed his bag and stormed out of the theatre after shouting at Kakashi that he wasn't feeling well. The silver-haired sensei merely waved his hand in the general direction of the exit as the door slammed shut. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he glanced to where Sasuke was standing staring into space. _Who would've thought_……

Sakura and Shikamaru were pretending to practice while whispering. Well, Sakura was whispering, Shikamaru was being whispered at.

"Did he really tell you to do that?!"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Don't know, I don't have anyone to tempt so he told me I didn't need to be there."

Sakura shook her head.

"I still can't believe our _sensei _told us to do that!"

"It's Kakashi-sensei."

Shikamaru sighed and slouched down in his seat. He was trying to think if he'd noticed anyone doing anything……tempting over the weekend. His eyes widened and Sakura's muttering faded into the background as he turned to stare at Choji and Ino in time to see a look of murder appear on the latter's face. Giving Sakura a mild heart attack, he leaped out of his seat and dived in Ino's direction. He wrapped his arms around her, pining her arms to her side, as she tried to lunge at a cowering Choji.

"_Practice_?! You goaded me into eating a whole chocolate cake because of _**practice**_?!"

Shikamaru was trying to tell her to shut up, worried her shrieking would draw attention to her attempted murder. He needn't have worried, everyone was already staring after the dramatic speed he'd previously showcased.

Suddenly both Ino and Shikamaru realised he had his arms wrapped around her. They leapt away from each other as if on fire. Both of them were blushing and, subtly clearing his throat, Shikamaru warned Ino not to kill Choji and went back to his seat. Everybody slowly turned their attention elsewhere.

Figuring Ino's outburst was a good distraction from their work, Kiba finally worked up the courage to ask Hinata something he'd been wondering about.

"Hey Hinata."

The girl in question turned away from the Ino-Shika-Cho debacle and gave him her full attention.

"What is it Kiba?"

"Em, the night of the party, y'know when I was having that drinking competition with Naruto and you came in and started saying how great he was an' all? Well, I was just wondering if that was because…"

He trailed off with a sinking feeling as Hinata started turning red.

"Oh, well, never mind."

He ducked down and went back to reading his script, unaware of the guilty look Hinata was giving the top of his head.

Shino raised an eyebrow as Temari stood in front of him with her arms crossed, glaring at him.

"Unless you have some super power I don't know about, I don't think you'll be able to set me aflame using only your eyes."

"I committed a crime so that you could practice your part in the play."

"No, you committed a crime because you wanted something shiny."

Temari spluttered for a minute, unsure what to say. Shino sighed.

"Just forgive me and get over it so we can continue rehearsing."

"Why the hell should I forgive you just like that?!"

"Because if you don't I'll start telling you what a great and passionate kisser your brother is."

Temari turned green and the pages in her hand began to shake.

"Don't think you can scare me into it so easily."

"Oh, and have I mentioned that his hands--"

"STOP! For the love of god stop! I forgive you!"

Shino smirked as Temari shuddered.

"Now, shall we get back to the task at hand?"

Neji and Gaara weren't even pretending to rehearse. They were standing across from each other, glaring. Gaara, suppressing a newly discovered conscience, snapped first.

"What?"

"Like you don't know."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"So that night we were locked in the dining room and you started calling me names, you weren't trying to provoke me into hitting you?"

Gaara growled and started staring at something over Neji's head.

"Well I hope you know that what happened after that was your fault too."

Suddenly Neji had Gaara's undivided attention again.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"_You _provoked _me _remember? And I don't remember you having a problem with what happened at the time. In fact I seem to remember you urging me on."

Neji smirked in a self-satisfied way as he watched Gaara seething. This was his payback for what happened that night, and yesterday. Unsure if this could continue without blood being spilt, Gaara did the sensible thing and packed up his bag. He was headed for the door when a voice called down from the stage.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Home, I'm sick."

"That's funny, I don't recall you ever being sick before."

"I must have caught what Naruto has."

With that he exited, almost removing the door from it's hinges in the process.

Kakashi shook his head and turned his attention back to the two students on the stage.

"Aren't you two going to start arguing?"

Kankuro laughed.

"Lee wasn't stupid enough to try anything with me."

"Yes! It was a very unyouthful thing for the others to do! Such shameful actions from my fellow students bring tears to my eyes!!"

Kankuro grimaced as Lee set himself to continue in this vein of conversation for awhile. Kankuro took a deep breath and mentally began his mantra.

_Murder is a crime…Murder is a crime…Murder is a crime…_

----------------------------------------------------

"Gaara, there's someone on the phone for you."

Gaara walked out into the hall and took the phone from Temari, then slammed it straight back onto the cradle. Temari raised an eyebrow, but remained silent as she watched Gaara stomp back in to his room. It was the third time this had happened since they'd gotten home from school and Temari was more than a little curious.

Gaara slammed his bedroom door behind him and threw himself on his bed, then turned up his stereo full blast. At times like this his siblings were thankful his room was sound-proofed. Suddenly he felt his mobile buzzing, the ring tone drowned out by MCR's dulcet tones. Checking the caller ID and seeing Naruto's name flashing on the screen, he turned down the volume and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Aren't _you _supposed to be ringing _me _to apologise, not the other way around?"

Gaara froze.

"That's funny you don't sound like Naruto."

"That might be because I'm not. He lent me his phone."

"Naruto lent you his phone?"

Silence.

"He's…otherwise engaged at the moment."

Gaara chose not question the statement any further. He stayed silent, as did Neji. After about five minutes he'd had enough.

"If you have nothing to say why don't you just hang up?!"

"I'm giving you a chance to apologise."

The red-head fumed and sighed in exasperation.

"Fine then, I'm sorry."

"……That didn't sound very sincere."

Gaara growled.

"But I suppose I'll take what I can get."

"Don't you think you should apologise for what you said to me earlier?"

"Hmm, what did I say?"

"That what happened was my fault."

"And why exactly do I need to say sorry for that?"

"Because it's a lie you prick!"

"And who was it dragging who against walls yesterday?"

Neji smirked as he listened to the silence from the other end of the line. Gaara was busy glaring at his phone, hoping that his rage would take physical form and eat Neji.

"Don't worry, I was just having a strange day. It didn't mean anything."

"Really?"

Gaara raised an 'eyebrow' and smirked a little.

"You almost sound disappointed Neji."

"What if I am?"

Gaara opened and closed his mouth soundlessly and, for the first time in recorded history, was lost for words. He remained silent, struggling to think of a biting comeback. The doorbell going off downstairs shook him out of his stupor. Kankuro had been trying to creep him out earlier, telling him Shino was coming over for a booty call. Gaara shuddered at the thought.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes. I just don't get why you're talking like that."

"Like what? Like I'm gay?"

Gaara could hear the amusement in the other boy's voice, and growled in retaliation.

"No. Talking like you like me. Freak."

Gaara muttered the last part but Neji still heard it. He laughed.

"Sticks and stones Gaara."

"What the hell--"

"So what if I did like you? What if I told you I wouldn't mind a repeat of that night?"

"I'd tell you to go screw yourself, and that you'd have a better chance of getting Naruto into bed with you."

Neji laughed again. There was a knock on the door and Gaara rolled off his bed to answer it. If it was Kankuro again he would cause him some serious bodily harm.

"What if I said I bet I could change your mind?"

"I'd say I'd like to see you try."

He opened his door and stared at where Neji was leaning against the door frame.

"Well, I've always liked a challenge."

---------------------------------------------------

Naruto raced down the hall and skidded to a stop at the front door, stubbing his toe in the process. Swearing at the pain in his toe and the fact that Iruka wasn't home to answer the door, he yelled at the person outside to hold on a minute. He finished rubbing his toe and yanked the door open. He glared at the raven haired visitor.

"What the hell do you want teme?"

Sasuke gave a long suffering sigh.

"I came to talk to you."

"And why is _he _here?"

Naruto nodded to Neji's skulking figure talking to somebody on the phone. Whoever it was must've hung up because Neji sighed and redialled the number. Sasuke faced Naruto again.

"He got locked out of his house and decided to trail after me."

Naruto continued to stand glaring at him with his arms crossed.

"Well, aren't you going to invite us in?"

For a moment Sasuke thought Naruto might actually close the door in his face, but he stepped aside and motioned for them to come inside. Sasuke stood to one side as Neji shut the door behind them, still busy with his phone. After a few more minutes of awkward silence, (and muttered expletives from Neji), Sasuke asked if he could talk to Naruto.

"Talk away."

"Maybe somewhere a little more private?"

Sasuke nodded in Neji's direction and Naruto sighed an agreement. He led Sasuke towards the kitchen.

"Hey Naruto, could I borrow your phone for a minute?"

Naruto dug his phone out of his pocket and tossed it to the other boy. Neji frowned as he watched the two boys head into the kitchen. Sasuke had been acting strange ever since Kakashi-sensei had made his little announcement earlier today, and then he said he'd needed to come to see Naruto. Neji didn't want to jump to any conclusions though, and anyway, he had his own problems to deal with.

Naruto leaned back against the kitchen counter, staring at Sasuke with an expressionless face. The blank look on Naruto was starting to freak Sasuke out. He'd never seen the dobe without a smile or a stupid expression on his face before. Determined not to lose though, he stared back, never breaking eye contact. Eventually Naruto looked away.

"Well? What did you want to say?"

"I wanted to talk about what Kakashi-sensei said today."

Naruto stared resolutely at something over Sasuke's shoulder.

"What's to talk about? You were just doing what your sensei told you. So what if you had to use somebody to get a better grade or whatever."

"I wasn't using you."

Naruto finally looked at him, levelling a sceptical look in his direction.

"You really expect me to believe that you suddenly became gay?"

"I haven't really thought about it, but I never said I was gay."

"You said you liked guys!"

"No, I said I liked you."

Naruto's eyes widened, not really understanding what Sasuke was saying. The raven walked over to where Naruto was frozen and placed his hands on the counter on either side of Naruto, trapping him in place. Naruto watched his movements warily as Sasuke leaned in closer. The blond was unable to look away from Sasuke's eyes, feeling as if they were piercing through him. When he was sure Naruto was listening, Sasuke started talking.

"Naruto, I need you to believe I wasn't just using you. I'd never do that to a friend, let alone you."

"What do you mean, let alone me?"

"I mean you're more than just a friend to me. I can't ever remember a time when I haven't loved you, but I could never tell you that. You've always been surrounded by people, and I was afraid if I told you and you didn't feel the same you wouldn't want to see me again. And no matter how much it hurt, seeing you but not being able to touch you was better than never being able to see you at all."

Naruto stared at Sasuke in shock as he continued talking.

"That's why I did what I've been doing the last few days, because then I could just blame Kakashi-sensei if it came out. But I'm tired Naruto."

Sasuke rested his forehead in the crook of Naruto's shoulder. Naruto remained frozen in one place, unsure as to what he should do.

"I'm tired of pretending, so I decided to just tell you myself. I'll understand if you don't want me hanging around anymore, and I'm sorry if I made things awkward………I guess I'll be leaving now."

He lifted his head and started to pull away. Naruto grabbed his arms to make him stop, then moved his hands to Sasuke's face, making him look at him. He looked so sad Naruto felt his heart ache. Making sure that Sasuke was paying attention, Naruto started a little speech of his own.

"You're so stupid teme."

Sasuke tried lowering his eyes, but Naruto made him look up again. He smiled at the downcast raven.

"If I didn't like you would I have kissed you back? Would I have done……what we did in the school bathroom?"

The last one made him blush and momentarily avert his eyes. Sasuke smiled slightly.

"I was mad at you because I _do _like you and, when I heard Kakashi-sensei saying he'd told you to do it, I thought you were just making fun of me."

Sasuke stared at the boy in front of him, not believing what he was hearing. That is, of course, until Naruto tilted his head up and kissed him. Sasuke closed his eyes as he sank into the kiss, wrapping his arms around the blond. This kiss was different, it wasn't just fast lust, it let him know exactly how Naruto felt about him. Sasuke poured his heart and soul into the kiss, determined not to leave Naruto in any uncertainty about his feelings. A few minutes later they pulled apart and, after another chaste kiss, Sasuke told Naruto he really did have to go. His brother had been expecting him back ten minutes ago. They made their way back into the sitting room so Sasuke could tell Neji they were leaving. So they were obviously a little confused when they discovered he wasn't there, or anywhere else in the house. They voiced their concerns in unison.

"Where the hell did he go?"

"Why the fuck did he take my phone with him?!"

-------------------------------------------------

Neji disconnected the call and stepped past Gaara into the room, leaving the redhead standing at the door.

"You might want to close that, your sister is hovering around the corner."

Gaara glared into the hall and slammed the door shut.

"Did she hear anything you said?"

"No, but I told her I was planning to have my wicked way with your body."

"Very funny."

"I'm not joking."

Gaara looked at him and, realising he wasn't joking, became a tiny bit enraged. He growled.

"What the fuck did you do that for? Now I'll never hear the end of it."

Neji grinned and Gaara stared. He didn't think he'd ever seen Neji do anything besides smirk. It made him look like he hadn't a care in the world.

"I know, I thought it'd be funny."

Ah, so the grin was a disguise for the devil. Gaara kept his temper in check as he watched Neji sit on the edge of his bed.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Neji lay back on the bed, leaving his legs hang over the edge.

"Getting comfortable."

"Well get _un_comfortable."

Neji turned his head to look at Gaara, letting a lazy smile make its way across his face.

"Are you going to make me?"

"Hell no!"

"Well, I guess I'm staying here then."

Neji put his arms behind his head and started looking around the room. Gaara quickly scanned the room for potentially embarrassing items. He saw a book lying on his bedside locker and, realising what it was, tried subtly to edge towards it. Unfortunately not subtly enough. Neji noticed what he was doing and dived for the book first, barely snatching it away from Gaara. Once it was in his possession he flopped down on the bed again and checked the title. Gaara tensed as Neji looked at the book, then at him, then back to the book etc.

"What?"

Neji stared at him incredulously.

"A book of poems? Love poems?!"

Gaara glared defensively. Neji stared for another second before starting to laugh.

"You read love poetry?? And to think people are scared of you!"

Gaara felt the slim control on his temper beginning to fray.

"Give me that back."

"Actually, I think I might have a look through it. Oh, I see you've marked some pages."

There went his control. Gaara lunged at the smug Hyuuga, determined to get the book back. He landed on Neji and made a swipe for the book. At the last second Neji tossed it to his other hand, then back again as Gaara dived for it. Completely enraged at this point, Gaara did the first thing that came into his head. Neji yelped as the other boy's teeth sank into his hand. Gaara grabbed the book triumphantly but in a flash Neji knocked it out of his hand and onto the ground. Gaara moved to get it but found he couldn't move his arms. He turned angrily to see what was wrong and saw Neji's hands gripping his forearms.

He glared down at Neji, hoping to scare him into letting go of him. Instead he leaned up towards him until Gaara could feel his breath on his neck. He tensed, preparing himself for whatever onslaught Neji was getting ready to unleash. Gaara felt lips faintly grazing his neck, tracing his jaw line and ending up by his ear. Neji traced the outline with his tongue. He felt Gaara shudder slightly and smirked. Gaara heard a low voice whisper to him.

"So, have you changed your mind yet?"

Gaara turned to face him and Neji smirked at the jade fire being directed at him.

"Go to hell."

"How about you come with me?"

"How about you stop--"

Obviously Neji had gotten tired of the subtler approach because, before he could finish his sentence, Gaara found himself being pinned to his bed under Neji.

"What, are you going to try and change my mind by force now?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why don't you just leave me the fuck alone?!"

Neji tilted his head to one side as he looked down at him.

"I suppose I figured you'd be curious."

Now Gaara looked confused.

"Curious about what?"

"Curious about what else I could do to you."

The glare made an expected comeback.

"And why the hell would I be curious about that?"

"You're telling me you really didn't enjoy what I did? It didn't feel good at all?"

Gaara was preparing to spit out a scalding retort when he realised Neji wasn't being a smug prick, he was genuinely curious. He stopped struggling to get his wrists out of Neji's grip and started to think about the night of the party, it seemed to be the only way he was going to get out of this situation.

He frowned as he tried to think back, some parts were still a bit blurry thanks to the alcohol. He remembered the taunting, the punch, some more taunting, then lying down on the table with Neji's mouth pressed against his. He concentrated, determined to recall how he'd actually felt. He could remember the heat of Neji's mouth, then the fact that he'd said 'please' when the other had paused. He flushed a little, in anger he convinced himself, when he realised it probably had been his fault. Pushing the thought to the side for the moment, he continued down memory lane. The feeling of Neji's hand around him, stroking him, was seared into his brain. Hearing in his mind again the muffled groan as Neji bit his shoulder, Gaara felt a burning sensation in his body as he brought himself back to the present. Neji was still above him, waiting patiently for his answer. Gaara was as confused as hell, but he knew Neji was right. He could feel a faint blush appearing on his face and prayed to god Neji wouldn't notice.

No such luck.

A slow, almost smug smile appeared on Neji's face. Gaara glared back up at him.

"Fuck you."

"So that's a yes then."

Somewhere along the line Gaara shrugged to himself and thought, what the hell. He wrenched his wrists away from and unsuspecting Neji, then grabbed a fistful of his hair and smashed their mouths together. Neji needed very little convincing to join the party when Gaara bit his lip before sliding his tongue into the older boys mouth. Gaara made a small sound of annoyance when Neji moved away, only to find that his t-shirt was being pulled off over his head. It was tossed to the ground, neither caring where it landed. Neji used his mouth to trace his way down Gaara's chest, and the further down he went the shallower Gaara's breath got. However, once he reached his pants, Neji went back to Gaara's lips. He couldn't help remembering what happened the last time he'd tried something similar. He wasn't going to chance Gaara changing his mind again. The redhead in question realised what was wrong and decided to fix it himself.

He managed to get his pants unbuttoned without Neji noticing, then placed his hand on the one creeping up his left side. Neji tensed for a second, thinking he was going to be removed, then relaxed again when Gaara did nothing. Focusing on his battle with Gaara's tongue he didn't notice at first that his hand was being slid lower. He did snap back to attention though when he felt his hand being guided into a pair of pants. He pulled back a bit to look down at Gaara in surprise. Surprise then changed to full out shock when his hand was wrapped around Gaara's shaft. Frozen in shock, Neji could only stare as Gaara put his hand to work. He watched in fascination as Gaara slid his hand slowly along his length, forcing him to add pressure when he needed. Neji let his eyes wander to Gaara's face drinking in the flushed face, the shallow breath and the squeezed closed eyes. Suddenly the jade eyes shot open and looked directly at him, Neji could feel himself being seared by the fire in them. Finally snapping out of the daze he'd been in, Neji started to take control of his own limbs again.

He ran a nail gently along the underside of Gaara's shaft, earning a cry from the boy under him. Gaara dragged him back down, crushing their mouths together and wrapping his legs around Neji's waist. Not stopping the motion of his mouth or hand Neji moved until he was sitting up, pulling Gaara with him. Noticing their change from horizontal to vertical Gaara left Neji's mouth to look down at him from his position straddling him. The dark haired boy noticed the faint smirk just as he felt his pants being opened. He grabbed Gaara's hand and pulled it away from its intended destination. Seeing the confused and slightly hurt expression on Gaara's face, Neji explained in a whisper as their lips met again.

"No, this is for you."

Gaara moaned as Neji's mouth found one of his nipples. His tongue played with it and his teeth grazed over it while a hand found the other one. His occupied hand tightened a little around Gaara's cock and the redhead threw his head back, moaning and letting Neji's tongue dance across his collar bone. Gaara lowered his head and assaulted Neji's mouth, fighting him for dominance with the most passion he'd ever displayed. Neji was struggling to keep charge when he realised his shirt had been ripped open. After momentarily wondering how he was going to explain that to the housekeeper, he wound his free arm around Gaara and dragged him against him. The feel of skin on skin was intoxicating. Using the moment as a distraction Gaara swiftly slid his hand inside Neji's pants, playing Neji at his own game and slapping his hand away when he tried to stop him. He half gasped, half growled into Neji's ear.

"Play fair."

Gaara grasped him roughly and Neji forced his eyes to stay open. Watching his red haired lover writhe on top of him, and knowing that this was a first for him, it didn't take him long to reach the same point Gaara was teetering on. Neji pressed their bodies together again while Gaara buried his hand in Neji's hair and his tongue in his mouth, both as close as they could possibly get. Gaara thrust against Neji and swallowed his moan. Neji thrust back and met Gaara pace for pace. He felt a tightening in his stomach as the motion of Gaara's hand became jerky and unfocused. He knew they were close and would be damned if he was going to go first. His hand glided up Gaara's back until it was buried in his hair then, grasping it tightly, he tipped his head back and attacked the exposed neck with his mouth. Gaara gave a pleasured moan when Neji growled softly to him.

"Say my name when you come."

Neji gave one last jerk. Gaara's back arched and his eyes squeezed shut as he cried out Neji's name. The combination of Gaara's body thrusting against him and the sound of his name as he came pushed Neji over the edge with him. He pressed his forehead against Gaara's chest as he moaned out his name a final time.

Completely spent, Gaara collapsed against Neji, resting his head on his shoulder. Neji tried to focus on getting his breathing back under control. After a minute or two Gaara sat back on Neji's lap with an unfathomable expression on his face. Neji looked at him noticing a bead of sweat run down his chest, his face was still flushed from their exertions, his hair was tousled and his eyes had a heavy-lidded sated appearance.

It was the most breathtaking sight he'd ever seen.

He watched as Gaara slid his arms over his shoulders and relaxed against him in an embrace.

"Say one word and I'll fucking kill you."

Neji smothered a laugh as he wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist. It was still the same old Gaara.

In the blink of an eye their serenity was broken when Gaara's bedroom door flew open.

"Gaara your room's sound-proofed, will you _please _switch with Kank--"

Temari stood in open-mouthed shock as she took in the scene in front of her. They'd pulled apart when they'd heard the door open, but Gaara was still straddling Neji's lap. Gaara was also still bare-chested, while Neji's shirt was obviously torn open. Temari opened and closed her mouth soundlessly a couple of times before turning and running out of the room, screaming:

"Ahhhh, my eyes!!! MY POOR VIRGIN EYES!!!!!"

Gaara turned and looked at Neji with a faint look of horror on his face. Neji just shrugged.

"It's her own fault. I warned her I was going to have my wicked way with your body."

-----------------------------------------------

So please review and let me know what you think!! And if you leave a review feel free to let me know who your favourite couple in this fic is, I'm really curious (read: nosey)! Until the next time, adieu!!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Me no owney!!!

A/N: I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a terrible person I know, there's just been so much going on lately and then I wasn't sure about parts of the chapter!! (gets down on knees and grovels) Please forgive me for keeping you waiting! This chapter also contains my first real lemon, so please be gentle with me!

(P.s. The next chapter will probably be the last one. I'm not _entirely _sure yet, but it's looking like it! So please bear with me for just a little longer.)

**Tempt Me  
**

On Friday morning they all trudged into the theatre once again for another day of pain and humiliation. Kakashi informed them that this was their last chance to make sure they knew their lines and their cues.

"Just remember that tomorrow is the big day! All your parents/guardians will be here, watching you, hawkeyed, able to notice you choke your lines within a second of you doing it……But no pressure!"

He received many degrees of murderous looks but, as per usual, he paid absolutely no attention to them. He reminded them that they all had to go for their last costume fittings backstage at some point during the day. Only the Sins seemed to be bothered by this.

Everyone checked the timetable on the theatre notice board to see when their fittings were and the first three, (Hinata and Lee and Kiba), headed backstage to the dressing rooms. Lee opted to go in first as he wished to perfect his performance so that it truly portrayed his overwhelming youthfulness! He pranced into the designated dressing room and left Kiba and Hinata alone. After a few minutes of oppressive silence Hinata finally plucked up the courage to talk.

"A-Are you m-mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you."

Hinata fiddled with her fingers.

"B-Because of what I d-did at th-the party."

Kiba was silent, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. Hinata bowed her head.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I think I was d-drunk, and it s-seemed like a good idea at the t-time. I n-noticed that you s-seemed to be j-jealous of Naruto and I u-used that so I'd d-do well in the play."

"You're the reason I used to be jealous of Naruto."

Hinata looked up at him in shock. He turned his head slightly to give her a sardonic smile.

"I was in love with you and you were in love with him. At one point I resented him, but Naruto is kinda hard to hate for long."

"Is th-that why you asked me to m-marry you? Because I w-was hanging around N-Naruto that night?"

"It may have had something to do with it."

"So it was m-my fault."

Hinata turned away from him so he wouldn't be able to see her crying. A hand under her chin turned her head back to face Kiba. He wiped away her tears and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Idiot, I don't care whose fault it was. I'm just happy that you love me too. Even if you decide you want to end our marriage I won't mind, so long as you promise you still love me."

Hinata smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. She looked up and Kiba stroked his thumb across her cheek. He leaned closer to her, she closed her eyes and waited for the feel of his lips on hers. She could feel his breath mingling with hers when……

"What a wonderfully youthful moment!!! I feel privileged to be able to witness such a YOUTHFUL occasion!!!!!"

Kiba groaned and got up to go in for his fitting, while Hinata bowed her head in an attempt to hide her blush. Lee had _the _worst timing ever.

--------------------------------------------------

Kakashi stood on the stage giving them their schedule for the day. Some would have fittings while others ran through the play from start to finish. Sasuke and Naruto were on the stage first, practising the opening scene. Sakura watched the proceedings with interest, noticing the subtle changes between the two of them. Whenever Sasuke touched him a faint blush appeared on the blonds' face, and a small smirk appeared on Sasuke's. Temari came over to where Sakura was standing and looked up at the stage.

"So are you as suspicious as I am?"

"Maybe, just a little bit."

Temari snorted as Naruto leaped away from Sasuke, his face bright red, after Sasuke slid his hand a little lower than the play's PG-12 rating would allow.

"Maybe more than a little."

Sai materialised at Temari's elbow with a camera hanging around his neck. He'd volunteered to take pictures of the show and backstage for the theatre notice board. Sakura and Temari paid no attention to him and continued on with their conversation. Sai listened in curiously, a devious thought taking form in his mind.

-------------------------------------------------

At eleven they were told they could take their half hour break. Sasuke scowled ahead of him at Naruto's back. The blond was busy laughing about something with Gaara, well Naruto was laughing while Gaara tried to ignore him. Before Sasuke had left Naruto's house last night they'd agreed to keep their relationship a secret. Naruto didn't mind if everyone knew, in fact he'd wanted to be public about it, but Sasuke was worried about his reputation and that if his fan girls found out they'd declare a national day of mourning. (Well, that or they'd kill Naruto). Unfortunately for him that meant being discreet at school. He'd already gotten in trouble for the little stunt he'd pulled on the stage and was trying to decide if it was worth attempting again. A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts.

"You look moodier than usual, any particular reason?"

Sasuke shrugged in reply to Neji's question.

"It's just having to spend the day doing this lame play."

"I don't know, you seemed pretty comfortable with it earlier."

Sasuke shot a look in his friends' direction, the innocent expression on his face only arousing Sasuke's suspicions further.

"By the way, where did you disappear to last night? I rang you after I left Naruto's but you didn't answer."

"I had something I needed to take care of."

"Some_thing_ or some_one_."

Neji turned sharply to look in Sasuke's direction. The raven-haired boy simply smirked at him and continued on his way to the cafeteria.

---------------------------------------------------

Everybody headed to their usual table in the cafeteria. Shikamaru hid his surprise when Ino sat beside him, true she ignored him, but she was blushing faintly the whole time, so he figured that had to mean something. Temari sat across from Kankuro and teased him about pining for his lover. Her brother then considerately told her where to go. Lee took his place at Sakura's side, holding her hand and declaring an unending supply of love and devotion to her. The girl in question wondered to herself how Lee never seemed to notice the throbbing vein at her temple. It was assumed that Choji was behind the gargantuan mound of food at the end of the table. Kiba and Hinata were conspicuous in their absence.

Gaara was trying not to react to Naruto's rant about Neji stealing his phone the night before. He wondered what Neji was going to do. When he was leaving the Sabaku residence Gaara had said he didn't particularly care if people knew, and that it was Neji's decision. The older boy had told him he'd decide what he felt like doing the next day. So far he hadn't done anything and Gaara couldn't decide if he was disappointed or not. Speak of the devil, two of his unholy minions had just entered the cafeteria. Sasuke sat next to Naruto, a little closer than was necessary, (or discreet). Neji strolled up to where Gaara was sitting and leaned down to kiss him. The redhead smothered a moan when he felt a tongue slip into his mouth and he rubbed it with his own. After about thirty seconds Gaara realised that he couldn't hear anything so he pulled away. Shocked silence filled the cafeteria as the entire student body stared at the public exhibition. The couple turned their attention to the people at their own table. All of them had the same dazed, open-mouthed expressions on their faces. Neji was especially curious when an open-mouthed Naruto put out his hand and a still dazed Sasuke put money in it.

Eventually noise resumed around them. They were bombarded with questions, which they completely ignored, from all sides. This continued until the bell rang, signalling their call to return to the theatre. Everyone headed back to The Seventh Ring Of Hell, trying to psyche themselves up for another couple of hours. Naruto dragged Gaara over to him to help him rehearse, as it was Sasuke's turn to get fitted. After a quick look around to make sure nobody was listening in, Naruto decided to talk to his friend in a calm and understanding way.

"_Neji_???!!! Are you serious???"

Gaara raised an 'eyebrow' at the bewildered blond.

"What."

Naruto's expression calmed down to somewhat surprised and amused. The normally deadpan expression had been replaced with one of irritation. Naruto realised that Gaara was defensive on Neji's behalf.

"Aww, you're standing up for your boyfriend. That's so cute!"

"I don't have any problem with killing you."

Naruto's grin didn't falter for a second.

"So, when he disappeared from my house last night……I'm guessing he reappeared at your house?"

Gaara ignored the question and looked down at his script.

"Didn't you want me to help you practise."

Naruto grinned in triumph.

"I'd ask you if you wanted me to help _you _practise, but I suppose you have Neji for that."

Gaara met Naruto's self-impressed megawatt grin with his own green glare of death, daring him to continue. He forgot that Naruto was never one to back down from a challenge. The blond with the death wish winked and nudged Gaara in the side.

"So, do you loooooooove him? Do you write him love poems? Does he look deeply into your eyes and tell you he doesn't care that you look like a homicidal panda?"

Kakashi turned to look behind him when he heard the noise. He sighed and called out to the perpetrators to stop.

"Gaara, please get off of Naruto and take your hands away from his throat."

Their caring sensei turned back to the stage again when he saw Neji hauling the vicious redhead off the asphyxiating blond.

Gaara went rigid until Neji was forced to put him down. He scowled at the dark haired boy.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing, Naruto was just helping me practise."

Gaara averted his eyes as he heard Naruto's voice in his head telling him Neji would help him practise. Neji shrugged and let it go.

"I have to go for a fitting now. Can I trust you not to maim Naruto while I'm gone? I don't think Sasuke would be too happy with you."

"What's that supposed to mean? Why would Sasuke care."

Neji laughed and shook his head.

"You're Naruto's best friend and you haven't even noticed?"

Gaara's reply was The Glare Of A Thousand Deaths. Apparently Neji was immune to it. Gaara crossed his arms and continued to glare, even when a hand under his chin forced him to tilt his head up. Lips met his own quickly and softly before Neji turned and headed backstage for his fitting. Gaara continued to look pissed as he moved his attention back to the script, but the newly recovered Naruto didn't miss the smile that appeared and disappeared in a flash. He decided to let that one slide.

"Oi Gaara, was that a smile? I think love is turning you soft."

Apparently his mouth had a different opinion to his head.

Gaara stalked over to where he was sitting on the arm of one of the seats. At some point Sasuke had appeared and draped himself over the back of the same seat. The fiery one smirked. Maybe Neji was on to something.

"I think you're just jealous Naruto."

"And why would I be jealous of Neji?"

Naruto pulled a face and Sasuke smothered a smile.

"Not Neji, you're jealous that I have love and you don't."

The blond made a 'pfft' sound.

"Why would I be jealous of that? It's not like there's anyone around here worth falling for."

It was so slight Naruto almost missed the split second when Sasuke stiffened. He didn't miss the cutting tone though.

"I doubt you have anything to worry about. Who'd fall in love with a dobe like you."

Gaara threw an enquiring look his friends' way.

"What's his problem."

Naruto gave his megawatt smile and scratched the back of his head.

"Who knows! Probably took too many of his emo pills this morning or something."

Everyone was so caught up with their own thing that nobody noticed Sai sitting a few rows back with a smirk on his face.

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More shocks awaited our unwitting friends at lunch when, out of the blue, Naruto dragged Sai to sit at their table. Sai gave them all his usual soulless smile and began eating his lunch. Sakura dug Naruto in the kidney with a spoon and hissed at him.

"Why did you ask _him _to sit with us?! After all the trouble he caused Hinata and Kiba! You really don't think sometimes do you Naruto."

Naruto turned red and started yelling at Sakura.

"Yes, I _am _thinking! Sai's been helping me with my part, rehearsing my scenes, looking for my script when I……misplace it. I think he should at least be allowed to share lunch with us."

He threw his arm around Sai's shoulders, as if to prove he wasn't going to be moved.

Sasuke watched from the other end of the table as Naruto defended Sai and threw his arm around him. An uncomfortable feeling started up in Sasuke's stomach. It felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He saw Sai lean in to tell Naruto something, then watched as the other boy tried to laugh while inhaling ramen. Sai thumped him on the back a few times, then laughed with Naruto when all was clear.

_Get the hell away from my dobe._

Sasuke started when he realised what he'd just thought. His eyes widened fractionally when it occurred to him that he was jealous. He thought back to Naruto telling Sakura that Sai was helping him rehearse his scenes. The jealousy and anger flared even brighter when he remembered what kind of scenes Naruto was in.

Out of nowhere Temari asked the table at large if anyone had seen Kankuro.

"It's not like him to miss _two _lunches, even if it is to be with Shino."

Ino laughed.

"Well he _is _with Shino."

Looking for some explanation as to the rest of the snorts, Temari asked them what they meant. Gaara deadpanned the reason.

"Our brother was caught by Gai-sensei in an empty classroom doing unyouthful things with Shino. They have to run around the school until break is over."

Temari groaned and put her head on the table, covering it with her arms.

"Why? Just, why?"

----------------------------------------------------

Naruto whistled as he made his way to the locker room. Sai had realised he'd left his camera in there and had asked Naruto if he'd get it for him. He would have done it himself but he had to meet with Kakashi straight after lunch. (Such is the intelligence of our blond kitsune that he never thought to question why the camera was there in the first place). Naruto eased open the door and headed towards the bench he could see the camera resting on. He was just about to come out from behind the lockers when he realised the showers were on. To be safe rather than sorry, in case Gai-sensei had decided to take a mid-day shower, he decided to peek out quickly to see who it was.

He poked his head barely around the corner of the metal compartments to see who was there. He squinted, still unable to make out who it was. He flushed when he realised that the naked person with their hands braced against the wall in front of them was Kankuro. And that Shino was standing between his arms. His back pressed flush against Kankuro's chest. Naked.

Naruto's face exploded with fire, but he couldn't make his eyes look away no matter how much he begged. He could see one of Kankuro's hands slide down Shino's body until it disappeared from sight. He heard Shino's moan and the mangled form of Shino's name that Kankuro emitted as he thrust into him. The spell over Naruto was broken and he fled from the locker room, Sai's camera lay forgotten on the bench. He could get it himself the next time!

----------------------------------------------------

Naruto collapsed on top of his bed that night when he got home from school. They'd had to do another full run of the play in vague forms of what they'd be wearing tomorrow, but Kakashi had said that they'd actually pulled it off. Perhaps the next day wouldn't be as much as a catastrophe as was originally expected. Naruto could hear knocking in the distance but decided Iruka could get the door. He tossed his shirt onto the floor and lay back on the bed, figuring he'd just put it away later. He heard talking and a laugh before Iruka yelled out to him.

"Naruto, one of your friends is here! They said they're returning something you left behind at school."

"Just send them up to my room!"

Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed. It was probably Kiba bringing him something that wasn't actually his.

"You know, I had a dream like this before."

Naruto's eyes shot open as he turned to stare at the smirking Uchiha standing in his doorway. He closed the door behind him and tossed something at Naruto.

"Gama-chan!"

Naruto looked suspiciously in Sasuke's direction. He didn't remember even taking it out of his bag at school. But why would Sasuke have taken it, and why was he here now? Said raven was currently wandering around the bedroom, randomly poking at things.

"So, do you think the play will go well tomorrow?"

Naruto decided to just flow with the conversation.

"Yeah, I think so! We all managed to get a lot of practice in."

"Well _you _certainly seemed to. Me, Gaara, Sai……"

Sasuke trailed off and continued to prod some unknown, partially alive, object on the shelf. Naruto watched him, completely baffled. Until a thought struck him. The blond grinned in absolute glee, but smothered it before the other boy could see it.

"Are you jealous?"

Sasuke shot around and gave a disbelieving snort.

"Jealous? Don't make me laugh. What do I have to be jealous of?"

"Oh. I thought you might have been jealous of the time I was spending with Sai"

"Don't be stupid! Of course I'm not jealous of that."

"Oh good."

Naruto let the silence continue for a while before breaking it again.

"Well, I was just wondering, you know how we're not really a public couple or anything? Well I thought that it might be okay if we could have an open relationship. Because Sai really is a nice guy, and he was flirting a lot with me today, so I was thinking I might take him up on what he was offering."

Naruto wasn't entirely sure how or when it happened, but he suddenly found himself pinned to his bed by an extremely infuriated Uchiha. Sasuke glared down at him with fire in his eyes.

"I knew that bastard was coming on to you."

Naruto decide to goad him a little more.

"You didn't really answer my question. Would you mind if I started seeing Sai as well?"

The fury rolling off of Sasuke intensified as he leaned down until there was hardly any space left between them.

"Would I mind? Only if you don't mind burying Sai afterwards."

"So maybe you're a little jealous?"

"Of course I'm fucking jealous! He didn't leave you alone for most of the day, and then you were all over him at lunch! If he ever even thinks of putting his hands on you again, I'll break his fucking arms. Swear you'll never go off with him. Swear it."

Naruto could hear the desperation and the panic behind all the fury and rage. He felt slightly guilty when he realised Sasuke was actually afraid of losing him. He put his hands on either side of Sasuke's face and pulled him down to him.

"I'd never leave you."

Their mouths' met with a fierceness, Sasuke eager to re-mark what he considered his. Naruto had no problem being branded. Their tongues wrestled against each other, battling for dominance, while Naruto ripped Sasuke's shirt off him and threw it to the floor. Neither knew nor cared where it landed. Sasuke had just gotten the others' pants open when he was stopped. A panting and rather flushed Naruto put a hand to the raven's chest.

"What about Iruka? He can hear us."

Sasuke's smirk reappeared.

"Did I forget to tell you? Iruka went to visit somebody in town and won't be back for awhile."

The look in Sasuke's eyes made Naruto blush a furious red and bite his lip. After groaning internally, Sasuke told Naruto they didn't have to go any farther. So, his shock was rather immense when a tanned hand wound itself into his hair and crushed their mouths together. His lapse in attention allowed Naruto to momentarily gain the upper hand, but he didn't allow that for long.

Pressing the blond back down against the bed, Sasuke began kissing and licking his way down Naruto's torso. He paused for a moment as he ran his tongue around Naruto's nipples. Devoting equal attention to each, licking and sucking, until he heard Naruto starting to whimper. He then continued his exploration across ribs and abs, stopping when he reached the waistband. He paused his ministrations only long enough to remove the offending trousers and boxers, before claiming his prize. His tongue danced around the head, then teased the slit and slid along the shaft. He heard Naruto cry out as he took him into his mouth, a warm and familiar weight. His fingers feathered touches along the parts he couldn't reach, and soon he had Naruto shivering underneath him.

He was surprised again when the hand buried in his hair, instead of encouraging him, pulled his head away. He leaned back on his elbows as he watched a determined and mischievous Naruto unbuttoning his pants, before easing them off and throwing them off the bed along with his underwear. He watched as Naruto reached out and gently began to stroke him. Naruto loved the feel of Sasuke in his hand, knowing he had a power over him. But he wouldn't mind trying something else. Sasuke's breath hitched when he saw the curious look in the blond's eye. His eyes watched, mesmerised, as Naruto tilted his head and ran his tongue up Sasuke's shaft. Then, bringing only the tip into his mouth, he traced his tongue around it. Sasuke bit his lip hard to stop himself making a sound, trying to let Naruto finish his exploration. However, when Naruto made to take all of him into his mouth, Sasuke had to pull away from him, knowing he wouldn't last.

He shoved the blond onto his back again and started kissing him so roughly and viciously he was afraid he'd leave bruises. But Naruto gave him back all he got, nipping at the others' lips whenever there was space. Sasuke reached down between them and grasped Naruto, swallowing the other's moan of pleasure when he started stroking him. While Naruto was distracted Sasuke slid one of his fingers inside Naruto. The blond noticed something different when he added the second, and yelped when the third was making it scissoring motions. Sasuke froze for what felt like an eternity before Naruto gave a slight nod and resumed attacking his lips. Sasuke eventually realised there was a problem, they had nothing to use for lube. Naruto told him it didn't matter, but Sasuke was worried about hurting Naruto and was preparing to pull away. Vice-like hands on his forearms stopped him.

"I want you inside me, and if you won't do it I'll pin you down and do it myself."

Sasuke took one look into Naruto's eyes, darkened with lust, and knew he'd lost. He rubbed his pre-cum along his shaft and hoped for the best. Pressing his lips against Naruto's again, he heard a whispered 'do it fast', and thrust inside Naruto. He heard a cry of pain and immediately stopped moving. He looked down at Naruto's face, scrunched up so he wouldn't see the tear that was trying to escape. Sasuke whispered apologies and reassurances until Naruto opened his eyes again. Naruto smiled up at Sasuke, doing some reassuring of his own. When the pain had died down Naruto allowed a small smirk to flitter across his face. He placed his hands down where the two of them were joined, then slowly slid them back up Sasuke's chest, pausing to tease his nipples. He slid his hands over his shoulders and whispered, 'move Sasuke' into the awaiting ear.

Sasuke slowly pulled out, then thrust back inside Naruto. The blond gasped as his eyes shot open. There was still slight pain, but now there was pleasure present as well. They kept up this pace for awhile. Then Sasuke felt the grip on his shoulders tightening and he looked down at the boy underneath him. His breath froze in his throat when he was treated to the half-lidded lust and yearning staring out at him from Naruto's eyes. He lowered his mouth to Naruto's collarbone and bit it. The strangled sounds Naruto made when he started sucking made it all worth while. His lips were making their way up the tan column when the mouth next to his ear demanded:

"Faster Sasuke."

Sasuke groaned and complied, losing himself in the cries of ecstasy coming from the boy he was buried inside.

Naruto ground his teeth and scrunched his eyes shut, but crying out anyway when the waves of heat rolled over him. Sasuke moved slightly as he thrust into him again and, suddenly a bolt of white-hot pleasure surged through every part of Naruto's body. He half-moaned, half-screamed, as he arched against Sasuke and threw his head back. Not one to let an opportunity pass him by, Sasuke attacked the exposed neck. The feel of fevered lips against his skin started a fire in Naruto. One hand wrapped in ebony hair and the other clawing at a pale back, two bodies pressed together as close as humanly possible. Sasuke wrapped Naruto's legs around him as he thrust deeper inside him.

Both noticed the tempo of their dance starting to pick up as they became more and more desperate to reach their release. Naruto reacted like an animal, teeth and nails biting and scratching whatever they met. Sasuke took everything harder and deeper, Naruto meeting him stroke for stroke. They both noticed the change when it came. Naruto's moans came out faster, almost pleadingly, while Sasuke growled animalistically and buried his head in Naruto's shoulder. Suddenly Naruto felt a break somewhere inside him as waves of ecstasy hit him and threatened to drown him. Sasuke stiffened as he heard the soul-rending cry of his name torn from Naruto's mouth. He felt the tightening around him and fell over the edge after Naruto, crying the blond's name as he did.

They lay where they were, exhausted, sated, and unable to move. After a number of minutes had passed Sasuke pulled himself out of Naruto and collapsed on the bed beside him, taking time to pull the covers over them. He stared at the almost asleep blond, watching a slow smile spread across the face that reminded him of the sun. He looked away, annoyed with himself for such sentimental thoughts. Still looking away, he voiced what he was feeling.

"I really do love you."

He turned to see that the blond had already fallen asleep. He snorted and pulled Naruto against him as he too floated into sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ino growled as she threw herself down on the overstuffed couch in the corner of the pub. Her father was _so _lame! She couldn't believe he was so caught up in a stupid card game. Ooh, Texas Hold'Em. It even sounded like a bad John Wayne movie. Just because she was no longer allowed to be in the house on her own she didn't see why she had to be dragged to these things. She watched as he mingled with the other members of the tournament and high-fived one of them. Oh god, she sank into the cushions, this night could not get any worse.

"Hey Shikaku, you came! And you brought your kid with you. He can sit over there next to Ino."

Apparently she was wrong.

She looked over to see a very surprised looking Shikamaru heading in her direction.

"What are you doing here?"

Ino nodded in her father's direction as Shikamaru sat down beside her.

"Apparently our fathers are in the same club."

"Yeah, but why didn't you just stay at home if you didn't want to be here?"

"What makes you think I don't want to be here?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. Well I'm not really supposed to be left on my own in the house. Ever. There may have been an incident with a fire, the fire department may have been called, we may have had to remodel/rebuild the kitchen. I still think he totally over reacted."

Shikamaru made a mental note to never eat anything she made.

"Well what about you? Why are you here?"

"My Mom's gone away for a week and he was given strict instructions not to come here, _or _to bring me with him."

Ino looked confused.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I promised I wouldn't rat him out if he did me an unnamed favour at an unspecified later date."

"Nice."

They stayed silent for a moment, too caught up watching their fathers' idea of cool. It took Shikamaru pointing out that her father was winking at, and flirting with, a barmaid to break Ino out of her daze.

"Can you play pool?"

Shikamaru looked a little startled at the abruptness.

"Huh?"

"Because if you can we can go play a game in the back room."

An explosion of laughter caught their attention and they looked over in time to see a group of middle-aged men doing Elvis impressions.

"Please tell me you know how to play."

A few seconds later they were sticking change into a pool table and setting up. Shikamaru broke and they started playing. After a while Shikamaru realised Ino was singing along with 'I Kissed A Girl' by Katy Perry. He averted his eyes and cleared his throat when she started moving her hips in time to it. He smirked and looked up at her again.

"I had no idea Ino."

She gave him a confused look.

"That you kissed a girl, and that you liked it. Was it Sakura?"

He ducked to dodge the pool cue that was swung at his head.

"Shut up you pervert and take your shot."

Ino glared a the smug look on Shikamaru's face, trying to figure out some way of wiping it off his face. A light bulb went off and an evil grin appeared on Ino's face. She walked up right behind Shikamaru so that when he turned around she bumped into his chest. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Oops! Sorry about that Shika."

She let her hands rest a little longer than they should on his chest before she moved him out of her way. Shikamaru stayed momentarily frozen where he was, staring at her as she leaned over to take her shot. He whirled around and put a hand to his face, realising he was turning pink. Without looking back, he told Ino he was going to get them a drink and hurried out of the room. Ino cackled to herself and decided she was going to have some fun with this.

An hour later Shikamaru was nearly prepared to go back out and watch their fathers playing cards. At first he'd thought he was over-reacting to the incident with Ino earlier, but now…… After she bumped into his chest there had been the almost indecent stroking of her pool cue, then the brushing against him as she reached for the chalk, and then the whispering in his ear from behind as he tried to take his shot. Now he flicked his gaze away as she leaned down across from him to take a shot. He looked back in time to see a smirk appear on her face and instantly became suspicious. Surely she hadn't been doing all those things on purpose. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The next time she brushed against him he made a big show of looking away, then looked back discreetly. The smirk was there again, confirming his suspicions. He decided it was only fair if he played too.

Ino turned and found herself pinned between two arms, her head against Shikamaru's shoulder. She blushed as Shikamaru pushed himself up and apologised for tripping. Ino couldn't help wondering when he'd become so clumsy. Especially when his hand slipped across hers when he was reaching for his drink, or when he brushed just a little too close as he passed her. It took awhile but eventually it clicked that he'd realised what she was doing and decided to get his own back. She fumed, not realising that Shikamaru was watching her. He smiled to himself, knowing she'd finally figured out what he was doing. Taking a look at the table he smirked and looked back up at Ino.

"I bet I can get the black ball into the left middle pocket."

Ino looked at the table and the position of the ball in relation to the pocket and snorted.

"There's no possible way you can do that."

Shikamaru leaned against the table and folded his arms.

"Do I sense a bet coming on?"

"You bet your ass you do!"

"Fine, but I get to decide the prize."

Ino was too fired up to recognise the trap.

"Sure, whatever. It doesn't matter, because you're never making that shot!"

"Okay so, if I make the shot I get to kiss you."

Ino gaped at him.

"What? No, I didn't--"

Shikamaru shook his finger.

"Ah, ah. I get to decide the prize, remember?"

Ino shrugged.

"Whatever."

She watched as Shikamaru contemplated the ball and pocket. She was completely relaxed. There was no way he was making that shot. Suddenly Shikamaru flicked the cue into action, and Ino could only look on in shock as the ball bounced off different corners before sinking into the left middle pocket. She raised her head in shock as Shikamaru walked over to where she was standing. He stopped in front of her and she looked at him in amazement.

"How?"

"Simple mathematics."

Ino cursed herself for forgetting he was a genius. She felt a hand under her chin making her look up. The hand moved to her cheek and brushed a stray hair from her face. Ino caught her breath as she met Shikamaru's eyes. He absentmindedly stroked her cheek for another moment or two. Before she even realised what she was doing, Ino's hands were resting on his chest and clutching his shirt. He looked surprised as she moved closer to him. A slow smile moved across his face as he leaned down to her. She closed her eyes and he heard her sigh quietly. Their lips were millimetres apart, able to feel the others breath ghosting across their faces, when the moment was shattered.

"SHIKAMARU?????"

"INO????? WHERE ARE YOU MY BELOVED DAUGHTER???"

Ino shoved Shikamaru away in a panic as their fathers came into view…well, staggered into view.

"My beautiful, most prettiest daughter! What have you been doing all this time, in this secluded corner, on your own with Shikamaru?"

Ino turned bright red, and hoped her father wouldn't notice in his inebriated state. Seeing her discomfort, Shikamaru informed his father that they had to be up in eight hours to prepare for the play. Both parents completely overreacted to this piece of information, and ran outside to start up their cars. Neither remembering that they hadn't actually driven to the pub that night. In the few minutes it took them to realise this, Shikamaru just had enough time to whisper to Ino.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my prize."

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Ooh, I almost forgot! I asked before who your favourite couple was and so far NejiGaara is in the lead!! SasuNaru is behind by one vote! Feel free to continue voting if you want!!

Also feel free to review! (nudge nudge, wink wink)


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